Patrick won his elementary school’s Spelling Bee today after only studying “for about, like…I don’t know…20 minutes?” Lisa reported that the tension in the room was palpable as Patrick and three other finalists misspelled their words and were all called back up for another round, time and time-again. In fact, Patrick had three attempts at the winning word, finally nailing it in what his principal quipped may have been “round 42.”

Nearly an hour later, he correctly spelling innermost, Patrick beat out 3rd through 6th-graders at his school for the top honors. His future plans include competing in the District Bee as well as the Sacramento County Bee for which he may actually have to study.

Lisa kept me in the loop with constant chat updates. Below is the chat log between Lisa, who attended the event, and I, who had to work. (My texts are in green.)