Many people remember Super Bowl XLVII – not just because it was a thrilling game, but also because it was the first time in American history where two brothers faced one another as coaches in a professional championship game. John Harbaugh, coach of the Baltimore Ravens, ultimately topped his brother, Jim Harbaugh, then coach of the San Francisco Forty-Niners, 34-31.

Although lacking the national prominence of that contest, history did repeat itself at the Benjamin Middle School Spelling Bee Final on January 14 as seventh grader Royce Howley faced his younger brother, Robin, a sixth grader.  Robin spelled well and lasted until the third round, but Royce went the distance and ended up winning the bee.

“I wish it were able to be [Robin] and I as the final two,” lamented Royce. “I was sad that he got out, but it felt really good [to win] because I studied really hard.”

However, Royce’s road was not easy. He needed to outspell 31 other contestants and, as the contest wore on, he found himself pitted against two champion spellers: defending champion and current eighth grader Rachel Haselkorn and former lower school champ and fellow seventh grader Mitch Faloona.

The three spellers battled it out together for four rounds, spelling words “billabong,” “ad nauseam,” and “ignominious.” However, in that fateful fourth round, Haselkorn missed “whippoorwill,” failing to add the second “p” and “l.” However, it was a great run for the former champion and she showed true poise and grace.

Then there were two. And it got interesting. Back and forth Faloona and Howley went, spelling words like two heavyweights exchanging blows: “mellifluous,” “heuristic,” “balletic,” “paralegal,” monarch, and “asthma.” But then Faloona missed “hybridize.” With a chance to win, Royce had to spell two words in a row. However, he missed the word “gibbon,” and all was even again between the two spellers. They went on and Howley had three more chances  to win, but slipped up each time (“juniper,” “felicity,” and “playwright” being the culprits).

Finally, when Faloona missed “remedyless,” Howley was able to claim the school title by breezing through “haphazard” and then “bilateral.” It was one of the most tense and exciting bees in recent memory, but both boys demonstrated great character and sportsmanship throughout, clapping for and congratulating one another when the other spelled a word correctly. They were the personification of Benjamin’s character traits.

However, the contest was not without it’s funny and touching moments. Who can forget eighth-grader Danny Rexroad’s deep-voiced pronunciations and spellings, or  fellow eighth grader Blake Chami’s flinching when he was given a particularly difficult word. And although Mrs. Benjamin was not able to be there, as she had presided over so many previous spelling bees, she loaned her old brass bell to “ding” the participants when they spelled a word incorrectly.

So now fourth grader Kiran Chandra-Spencer, the lower school champion, will be Royce’s alternate in the Regional Southeastern Florida Scripps Spelling Bee which will be held right here at TBS in the Barker Performing Arts Center on February 24. Perhaps one of them will qualify for the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Maryland. The last TBS student to do that was Dr. Kenneth “Andy” Larson ’91, father of current eighth grader Blake Larson. Dr. Larson made it to the national bee four consecutive years and, during his final year as an eighth grader, finished 41st out of 185 finalists.

Right now, Howley is simply focused on getting to the nationals. “My goal is to win the regionals, and just make it to nationals, and to get there I am going to read the dictionary,” Howley joked, “and I am going to read the words that [Lower School Curriculum Coordinator] Dr. Sheehan gave me. She helped me a lot through winning the first bee.”