Spelling Bee Champion from Illinois School Competes Again Wednesday

Emmanuel Asiedu-Sekyere is that rare and gifted student whose world slows down when the action begins swirling all around.

“I can see the whole word in my head,” said Emmanuel Asiedu-Sekyere, the 14-year old Illinois School 8th grader and the 2023 Matteson School District 162 Spelling Bee champion.

“I knew every word,” said Asiedu-Sekyere, following a two-hour spelling bee last month in which he was named champion, followed by two runner-up contestants - Keyanu Garcia, a seventh grader from Huth Middle School and Emmanuella Sam, a fourth grader from Sauk School, both of whom will be back next year to compete.

Asiedu-Sekyere advances to the 13th Annual South Cook ISC Scripps Spelling Bee March 8, 2023 at Southland College Prep Charter High School.

The contest ended with champion Asiedu-Sekyere’s perfect recitation of the word “fervently”, a word that defied the winner’s calm outward appearance.

“There are some students like Emmanuel who have this ability to see the word in their head in its entirety instead of sounding it out to spell it,” said Lee Stanton, Matteson School District 162 Associate Superintendent, who, along with Ashley L. Hanson, Reading Specialist at Illinois School organized a Spelling Bee for an overflow community audience at Southland College Prep Charter High School in Richton Park.

Neither the performance nor the demeanor surprised Emmanuel’s mother Elizabeth, a native of Ghana.

“He is a very brilliant boy and an old soul,” said Elizabeth Asiedu-Sekyere. “Emmanuel has no worries. Anything goes and he takes life as it is.”

Another complementary source to Emmanuel’s Illinois School teachers and coaches was Ann Lamptey, his cousin and a current student at Northwestern University in Evanston.

“Ann would call up and they would practice on the phone,” said Elizabeth. “The two are very close.”

Asiedue-Sekyere’s teachers and coaches at Illinois School – Hanson and Kathy Daniels – were hardly surprised by his performance; rather, they found the entire effort by all the students to be extraordinary.

"The competition was fantastic this year and it was extremely encouraging to see that a 4th grader came in second place,” said Hanson. “We have put a huge focus on vocabulary knowledge, which was demonstrated during the vocabulary round where not a single definition was missed by any competitor. That is a true representation of what we do in District 162."

Meanwhile, Asiedue-Sekyere is preparing for March 8 by “studying even more.”

“The performances throughout the evening illustrate how much children love being back with their teachers, whose daily instruction bring out the best in them,” said Dr. Blondean Y. Davis, Southland CEO and School Superintendent for District 162.

“The on-site inclusion of our parents to console their children who competed and did not advance is another of the human experiences that only in-school engagement can create. We saw the hugs from the parents and heard them pointing already to next year.”