Brothers Win 1st, 2nd in Spelling Bee
Karl Patram, a student at Crews Middle, wins the coveted spot as Gwinnett County Public Schools top speller in the GCPS spelling bee. His brother, Neil Patram, a student at Brookwood Elementary, wins second place.
When the spelling bee closed with a tender hug between the winner and the second-place finisher, it became clear that they were more than competitors. They're brothers. It came down to the word "extraneous." Neil, a fifth grader at Brookwood Elementary School, stepped to the microphone to spell the word before his older brother, Karl. Silence in the room, and without asking for any extra explanations of the word, Neil spelled: E-X-T-R-A-N-I-O-U-S. Karl, an eighth grader at Crews Middle School, didn't expect that. It's a word both of them studied before the nerve-racking day came, he later said. Now, it was his turn to spell the word. Without any hesitation, he spelled it correctly. His next word -- the one that would crown him winner -- …
