Bee all that you can bee

COEUR d’ALENE — Josiah Pinkerton's nervous smile grew wider as confetti and streamers exploded around him.

"It's the only bee I've been in that I was actually nervous the whole time," the 13-year-old Coeur d'Alene home-schooled seventh-grader said shyly, a smile still broad across his face.

After spelling the word "vernacular," Josiah became the 2016 champion of the North Idaho Regional Spelling Bee on Saturday morning. The 13th annual bee was held in North Idaho College's Schuler Auditorium, where Josiah competed against 40 other students, fourth through eighth grade, from five North Idaho counties.

Josiah will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. near the end of May, courtesy of the bee sponsor, The Coeur d'Alene Press. While in Washington D.C., Josiah will compete against spellers from across the country and around the world at the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Josiah has competed in the regional bee every year that he has been eligible. The closest he came to winning in the previous three years was fourth place.

"We are so proud," said his mother, Kathryn. "He has worked so hard for so many years."

Josiah is not the first in his family to compete in the regional tournament. He is not even the first to go to Washington D.C.

His older sisters, Rachel and Rebekah Pinkerton have both competed in the nation’s capital. Three other siblings — Sarah, Samuel and Esther — have all competed in the regional competition.

Josiah hopes to take Esther with him to the national competition because she competed for many years in the bee as well, but she never made it to nationals. Although he is only a seventh-grader, he will be ineligible to compete next year because he is skipping eighth grade and going straight to ninth.

"It's just exciting and everybody works so hard," Kathryn said. "He is one of nine children, so he had a lot of encouragement at home with those that went before him and paved the way."

Mindy Patterson, who has been the bee coordinator for six years, said this year was the shortest competition ever. Last year, she said, was fairly short at 13 rounds and this year was only eight.

By round two, more than half of the contestants had gone out after they were asked to spell words such as knavery, gulden, cilantro and boudoir. Round six was down to five spellers and three more went out, leaving Josiah and the first runner-up, another home-schooled student, eighth-grader Erika Gallus. Josiah correctly spelled "motif," but Erika slipped up on the spelling of "provolone."

Along with the trip to Washington D.C. Josiah received a Merriam Webster's Third New International Dictionary, a one-year membership to Britannica Online, a Samuel Louis Sugarman Award Certificate, a plaque from The Press and a North Idaho College events pass for the 2016-2017 school year.

Patterson said the 12 months of preparation for the bee is well worth it when it comes time for the regional competition.

"They are just amazing, all the participants are just amazing," Patterson said. "And it is so fun to watch, like Josiah every year he's competed and then to get to win — it's fun."