As Logan Turner sat in the hotel lobby with his bright red Canada shirt and fidgeted with his CanSpell-issued dog tags, it was pretty hard for the 11-year old speller to pinpoint the best thing about his trip to Washington, D.C.

“Just being here is really cool,” he said from his oversized chair.

The Grade 6 student at Thunder Bay’s Agnew H. Johnston Public School is one of 22 Canadian regional champs participating in the 81st Scripps National Spelling Bee this week in Washington.

On Sunday, Logan’s entire family, including his grandparents, flew in to town from Thunder Bay. On Monday, he toured the capital with the other spellers.

“I’ve always heard about assassinations but it was really cool to listen to all the stories,” he said. “And there are a couple monuments in Ottawa, but here there are like 10.”

Logan’s favourite stop was the Lincoln Memorial, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. He also thought the Korean War Memorial, with statues of soldiers marching through juniper bushes, was pretty cool.

But don’t let all that touring fool you. When he’s not hanging out with his pals at the White House or making trips to the hotel swimming pool, Logan has put in some time with some pretty tricky words.

On Monday, he studied “for about an hour” before his written test.

“It didn’t really help,” he said after taking the test. “The words weren’t on there.”

In Monday’s qualifier, Logan was given 50 words to spell on a computer. He said some of the words were really hard, and some were suspiciously easy. Only 25 count toward his total score. That, combined with the score from the oral test he will take on Thursday, will determine if he makes it into Thursday’s quarter-finals.

“I think those ones weren’t part of the 25. We’re hoping they were, but not counting on it,” he said. “If I make it I guess I made some lucky guesses.”

After Monday’s test, the Turner family went to the Scripps Welcome Dinner for some “thick-crusted” pizza. 

Logan said it turned into a frenzy pretty quickly, with spellers rushing all over the place to get autographs. All 288 spellers are given a “beekeeper,” which is a book about all the other spellers, with some information missing. The goal is to fill in the blanks.

“I’m not determined to get everyone. Just a couple here and there.”

Logan’s question is: “Nine months ago, Logan had the chance to meet the Prime Minister of this country and get his picture taken.”

“It’s pretty easy,” Logan said to his dad. (Logan met Stephen Harper at his school).
In the next few days, Logan has a busy schedule. A trip to the Canadian Embassy, a tour of Annapolis, and of course, the oral qualifiers Thursday morning.

For now, Thunder Bay’s spelling star is just happy to soak in the experience, regardless of the gargantuan words that might be thrown his way Thursday.

And if he should make it to the stage for Friday’s semi-final and championship rounds?
“I’ll wear my checkered shirt,” he said.

“But that’s if I make it.”