Tom Wadsworth: Spelling bee’s compassionate presenter

DIXON — For 40 years, the mainstay for the Lee-Ogle-Whiteside County Regional Spelling Bee has been its presenter, Tom Wadsworth.

The motivational speaker, narrator and former radio broadcaster has been pronouncing words with practiced precision and helping middle school students cope with their stage fright since 1983.

Yet, if there is magic on the Wiltz Auditorium stage, it’s because of what happens the evening before the competition.

[ Merit Namaste Rose correctly spelled ‘vaccination’ en route to victory ]

[ Tom Wadsworth was a Hometown Headliner in 2020 ]

That’s when Wadsworth conducts a 90-minute rehearsal, walking the students through the process, preparing them for the glare of house lights and the gaze of the audience.

He goes to these lengths to put the spellers at their ease. In spite of being an accomplished public speaker, he remembers the feeling of being lost before a crowd.

“I can remember being in the spelling bee in the eighth grade,” Wadsworth said. “I was terrified, getting up on the stage at Washington school in Dixon.”

On another occasion he was supposed to give a speech, then called in sick rather than face that again.

“I know what these kids are going through,” he said. “I don’t forget that.”

Thus, the rehearsal.

“The biggest thing the kids can do is study the list. If you study the list and know the list, you’re going to win.”

—  Tom Wadsworth

Wadsworth treasures one instance in the early 1990s when the rehearsal proved to be the difference between a contestant sticking with it instead of backing out at her first sight of the auditorium.

He said as soon as mother and daughter walked in and saw the room, the daughter clenched the mother’s hands and said, “Mom I can’t do this.”

“Mom called me down (to them),” Wadsworth said. “I did all the things I do for an hour and half to calm them down.” The mom later wrote a testimonial, saying the daughter made it through the contest and had fun. “That means the world to me,” Wadsworth said.

Wadsworth also offers spellers tips, such as using the back of the contestant card to use a finger to “write” out the words before spelling them aloud for the judges. The approach has gotten more popular over the years — many of the recent champions at the national bee have been doing it. But Wadsworth says that going back to the beginning of his involvement, there has always been one or two students that picked up the trick.

Easing contestants’ fears during rehearsal helps them cope: they don’t break down, cry, get upset with themselves or sulk on stage during the actual contest.

And when things get tense, as they inevitably do as the field narrows and the words get more difficult, the students maintain their composure. A trip to the nationals in Washington, D.C. is at stake.

“We stress that the kids be there,” Wadsworth said. " Kids that don’t get to the session are always out early. It really helps.”

The memory of the 1983 bee is still vivid for Wadsworth. He remembers Jackie Harrison of Amboy winning. She’s 53 and a surgeon in Chicago.

Over the years the contest has produced champions of all grade levels.

Paige Myroth of Rochelle was the first fifth-grader to win in 2010.

Myroth was the youngest until Rebekah Zeigler of Polo started her incredible run of five straight, the first as a fourth-grader in 2016. She won in 2017 in a bee that went 44 rounds. In 2018, Zeigler won in a tightly-contested competition that exhausted 418 words.

Then in 2020, Kathleen Keesey of Reagan Middle won in one of the shortest contests, just nine rounds. The bee hadn’t been that brief since Julie Sandschafer of St. Anne’s won in 10 rounds in 1988.

But experience does count. Since 1977, eighth-graders have won 44% of the bees. When Merit Namaste Rose of David L. Rahn Junior High in Mount Morris on Feb. 24, she was the ninth straight female champion.

This year’s bee was conducted before a limited audience, as a COVID-19 mitigation. Contestants could bring two guests. That was a big change from the past, Wadsworth said.

“We usually have busloads of kids,” he said. “This place can be filled with over 600. They’ll bring a whole class of 30 kids to watch and cheer them on. It’s pretty cool, normally. That dampened the excitement. … I hope next year we’re back.”

COVID didn’t change the essence of the contest, Wadsworth said. “The biggest thing the kids can do is study the list. If you study the list and know the list, you’re going to win.”

Wadsworth admits that every year he says the list of words gets tougher. But this year’s list cinched it. “I often throw out the first 50 words because they are usually so darn easy,” he said. But this time? “I could start at No. 1 and know we would have a good contest.

This year’s contest was resolved in 11 rounds. Wadsworth said they were in the Level 2 difficulty when it ended.

Wadsworth had been a minister in Dixon and was the morning announcer for WSDR back in 1983 when the bee’s organizers asked him to first serve as presenter. They were looking for someone who could enunciate and handle a microphone. They got more than that: he became devoted to the success of the event, even serving as its unofficial archivist. Amy Jo Clemens, former regional superintendent of schools, once referred to him as the event’s rock. Chris Tennyson, the current regional superintendent, offered words of praise for Wadsworth during his opening remarks.

The tenure has been a rewarding one — and he’s looking to continue.

Wadsworth is 69 and retired. But in a few days it’ll be his turn to be on the spot — being scrutinized as he gives an oral dissertation at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the last step after six years of study in earning his doctorate in New Testament Biblical Theology.

During the awards portion of the bee, the fact this was the 40th year hit him. Or maybe, it was his own experience as an eighth-grader.

“You saw me get choked up,” said Wadsworth.

Always a pro, maintaining composure is paramount.

“I hated that. But one thing that has never left me, and it probably has intensified over the years, is my compassion for the kids going through the stress of being on this stage.”