Redder spells his way to S-T-A-T-E

After claiming district and region wins in the UIL Academics spelling competitions, Bridgeport junior Levi Redder is preparing to make his debut at the state competition. BRENDAN MARCHAND | WCMESSENGER

After claiming district and region gold medals in the UIL Academics spelling competition, Bridgeport High School junior Levi Redder is ready to make his debut at the state competition.

Redder has been on the spelling circuit since intermediate school. In his freshman year, he was the lone BHS qualifier for the region competition.

“It’s just interesting to me. It might sound boring to some people, but I just think words are kind of fun to learn about,” Redder said.

Redder keeps his preparation simple, but it is demanding. He combs through a prescribed list of words that could potentially appear in the competition, with a goal to have as many ingrained into his head by competition day.

The standout speller tries to drill as many words into his subconscious, and also rely on real-world associations to help him remember the intricate order of letters.

Even with his preparation, Redder wasn’t sure how well he would fare when the region competition was over. He could only focus on the words he knew he missed.

“Specifically, I could only think about how I got ‘je ne sais quoi’ wrong,” Redder said. “I wrote it like eight times and just knew it wasn’t right.”

Before Redder could get the results on-site, he had to bolt. Not only was he fighting for a place at state that day, he also had to make it back to Bridgeport to get ready for prom.

“I was in the car about an hour away from Bridgeport when I found the results online,” he said. “I was happy and I’m proud of myself. But there’s room to get better with those words that I know I missed.”

Between now and competition day, Redder is sticking to the same game plan to prepare. While there is pressure being the only representative from BHS at state, he hopes that he can keep the momentum he’s been building since last year’s UIL season.

BHS UIL Academics Coordinator Joey Reyes will accompany Redder to the competition next week. He said it has been a privilege to see Redder’s progression and how he has dedicated himself to the craft.

“I’m his math teacher and was last year, and I’ll see him in class with his flash cards studying and doing it all on his own time,” Reyes said. “With something like a math competition, you’re likely learning those in your class and it’s being applied somewhere. But with spelling, it’s very much a solo, grind it out yourself deal. Levi has shown that rare combination of not only the intelligence, but also the willingness to put in work outside of class.”