Neil Dey, a fourth-grade student at Delmae Heights Elementary School, has been called a true example of good character after giving the cash prize he won in the school’s spelling bee back to the school to use.
Neil, 9, was the winner of the third annual Youth Aiming Toward Excellence (Y.A.T.E.S.) Spelling Bee on Nov. 22 at Poynor Adult/Community Education Center in Florence.
Two hundred twenty-two students from Briggs, Greenwood and Henry Timrod elementary schools, as well as the Palmetto Youth Academy, signed up for the spelling bee, but only 92 students participated in the first round.
Neil had to compete against 38 students in the final round. To win the spelling bee, Neil had to correctly spell the words “acceptance” and “succeed.”
For being this year’s winner, Neil received a trophy, dictionary, Scrabble game and a cash prize of $100.
Neil accepted everything except the monetary award and offered it back to the school’s principal, Roy Ann Jolley.
“I didn’t need the money,” he said. “I just wanted the trophy and the cool Scrabble game.”
Neil, who was the second place winner in last year’s spelling bee, said he was pretty confident he was going to win this year and already decided he wouldn’t keep the money.
Neil’s mother, Indrani Dey, said both she and her husband, Subir, were proud of his accomplishment.
“I thought it was really nice because Delmae does so much for the students,” she said. “The best thing about the spelling bee is that he’s able to learn a lot whether you win or lose.
“Spelling is so important,” she said. “I think it’s a very good program.”
To prepare for the bee, Neil said, he read many books and reviewed words from the previous spelling bee with his mother.
Neil said one of the difficult words for him was kernel because it is a homophone, a word that can be pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning. It can also be spelled the same or differently.
When Neil told Jolley he just wanted to win the spelling bee and not the money, Jolley said she was shocked and asked if he was sure he wanted to do that.
“When you think about a fourth-grader, you don’t normally think about (them) giving up money like that, particularly this close to the holidays,” she said. “He was very serious about it and sincere.
“We talk all the time here about good character. I think Neil is one of the best, if not the best, examples of it I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”
Jolley said she will use the money for next year’s spelling bee.
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