Alumni Highlights
St. Joseph Alumni Highlight: Jacob Elser '10
Arkansas' Top Speller!
Fourteen-year-old Jacob Elser, a 2010 St. Joseph’s School (SJS) graduate, is Arkansas’ top speller. He spelled onstage in front of a live and televised audience in early June at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the Washington, D.C. area. Friends, family, and fellow Arkansans cheered him on including the St. Joseph students eating lunch in the cafeteria watching the big screen.
“I was very thankful for all of the support I received from everyone. It was a great experience and a fun week!”
Jacob’s goal was to make it to the semi-finals so he could be on ESPN. While not one of the only 41 students of 276 from 50 states and numerous countries progressing to the semifinals after the three oral and written rounds, Jacob was surprised to be called by ESPN producers. He had the opportunity to share another talent during prime time - solving a Rubik’s cube in less than a
minute.
“I gave up touring the Capitol to film solving the Rubik’s cube. I toured the Capitol on our SJS 7th grade trip last year!”
Jacob credits his interest in spelling to Toni Been, SJS first-grade teacher and his other teachers who encouraged him. “Jacob enjoyed the challenge and he had the discipline to carry it through,” said Mrs. Been. His motivation to study came from representing not only himself, but his school, county, and state. He started competing in spelling bees in third grade when teacher, Bobbi Johnson, encouraged him to give it a try. He won his school bees from fourth to seventh grades. He went on to win the Washington County spelling bee for the first time in the fifth grade in 2008. The next two years, he placed second at the county competitions. He thought his shot at winning state might be out of reach. This March during his final eligible year, he won the Woodland Jr. High and Washington county bees, and then he out spelled 65 other county winners at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to win the Arkansas State Spelling Bee and progressed to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Now a 9th grade student at Woodland Jr. High, Jacob especially appreciates his years at St. Joseph.
"Catholic school was a great environment. The teachers were really good and they cared about the kids. They were very supportive of us. I think it was great to go to a school where I could increase my faith. I especially liked having the opportunity to attend Mass two times during the week.”
Jacob’s faith is important to him. He serves as an altar server even though he’s now taller than Father Antony and Father Ravi, and is preparing for confirmation in October. His favorite Bible verse is Psalm 34:1 ("I will bless the Lord at all times; praise shall be always in my mouth"). He found it after winning the Washington County Spelling Bee as speller no. 34 in round 34 with the word "psalm."
"It's my favorite Bible verse now," Jacob said. "It helps me when I'm competing because I'm doing it for the glory of God."
Mark Wilburn, SJS 7th grade teacher and Assistant Principal, served as the pronouncer for the county bee, himself having competed in spelling bees.
While Jacob’s spelling bee studying is over, he hopes learning so many prefixes, suffixes, combining forms, and language patterns will help him on the vocabulary section of college entrance exams in the future.
“English came from other languages. I learned that languages have spelling patterns that are very different from English.”
Jacob’s advice for aspiring spelling bee champions is to study hard and appreciate whatever God-given talents you have. His last word spelled correctly onstage was the Sanskrit word, “prabhu” which means master or Lord.
These days Jacob keeps busy with a pre-AP class schedule, running cross country for Woodland, playing junior varsity tennis for Fayetteville High School, and still enjoys chess.
We welcome your stories! If you have an alumni highlight, please share the news with us by contacting Mrs. Diamond at or by calling 479-442-4554.
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