After 15 rounds and a suspenseful 90 minutes, 10-year-old Mazeen Chawdhury emerged champion of PS 94 King College School’s annual Spelling Bee, which drew plenty of oohs, aahs, and aha moments.

Separating Raisa Alam, the runner up, from first place: serviceable. Raisa fell short in spelling the word, but Mazeen did, of course. A first place ribbon soon followed.

The two, along with third place winner David Marcos, took on 22 others in an edge-of-your-seat competition that ranks as one of the more anticipated events at the Norwood grade school. The group of competitors were already some of the top spellers in the school, beating out classmates in small-scale spelling bees each fourth and fifth grade class took part in leading into the competition.

Many were crushed by the outcome, eliminated by words like “restoration”, “occasion”, and “initiation”. They walked off the stage gracefully, with supportive staffers waiting for them.

But win or lose, the Jan. 23 academic event served as a lesson for the students as far as Joanne Clarke-Condon is concerned. For Clarke-Condon, who began organizing the verbal contest in 2007 with help from parent coordinator Miriam Seminario, the ability to conquer stage fright, build memory skills and sharpen literacy skills represented the real positive takeaway from the moment.

“If you can do this you can do anything,” Clarke-Condon said of participating in the spelling bee. “It encourages them to study, become better spellers.”

Clarke announced the contest in December. Mazeen, who took part in the spelling bee last year, said he began practicing in November.

“My mom tests me—the whole packet—every single day,” Mazeen said.

Practicing became part of the routine for Raisa, who said the “words out loud” to remember them with speed. David spent an hour memorizing words each day.

“I just spelled every word, one by one, and said it out loud,” David said.

At halftime, Congressman Adriano Espaillat, representing Norwood, paid a visit to the school. Offering advice, Espaillat said the bee will help them better students.

“You do better in school you do better in life,” he said.

Editor’s Note: Check our more pictures of the suspenseful event on the Norwood News Facebook page.