Martinsville middle-schooler Abram Polley wins 2022 IU Bee
After 13 rounds and stiff competition from 16 other spellers, eighth-grader Abram Polley won the 2022 IU Bee, correctly spelling the word “hubris.”
The third time was the charm for Polley, a student at John R. Wooden Middle School in Martinsville. This was his final year of eligibility for the IU Bee. He will compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the Washington, D.C., area in June.
Runners up in the competition were Ankit Kumar, a seventh-grader from Jackson Creek Middle School in Bloomington, and Logan Barnes, a seventh-grader from Seven Oaks Classical School in Ellettsville.
Abram said spelling “has been a thing of mine for forever.”
To prepare for the bee, he said he looked over the list repeatedly and memorized the words.
“I didn’t expect to win,” he said. “It’s still setting in.”
Abram also won the written vocabulary test before the bee.
His mom, Mandy Polley, said she was overwhelmed. “I’m not sure I breathed the entire time, but I’m super excited,” she said.
Abram’s dad, Brad, most likely will accompany him to the national bee.
“We’re just ecstatic. Speechless,” Polley said of his son’s achievement.
The moment was all the sweeter because the pronouncer, retired Edgewood High School teacher Larry DeMoss, had been Brad Polley’s English teacher when Brad was a sophomore at Edgewood.
It was DeMoss’s second time as pronouncer.
“The kids are the stars of the show,” he said. “The pressure is to make sure I’m as clear when I pronounce as can be.”
Abram will receive airfare, hotel accommodation, some meals and incidental travel expenses for himself and one of his parents.
He also receives the Samuel Louis Sugarman Award, a U.S. Mint Proof Set, a one-year subscription to Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online, the bee’s official dictionary, and a one-year online Britannica Premium subscription.
The runners-up earned a Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary and a Scripps National Spelling Bee “Scratch and Play” book, which Abram also received as the vocabulary test winner.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee will be June 2 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center. LeVar Burton, former host of the PBS show “Reading Rainbow,” will host the semifinal and final rounds. The final rounds will be offered in person and will follow the preliminary, quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the bee.
This is the 12th year IU has hosted the IU Bee, which is run by High School Journalism Institute director and senior lecturer Teresa White.
Update (June 6, 2022)
Abram competed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee this June. For his round, he correctly spelled hinoki and correctly defined apiary before incorrectly spelling senescence. He finished in 89th place.