None of this might have happened if a Madison woman named Jane Pawasarat hadnâ??t had an extra ticket to a documentary at the Wisconsin Film Festival seven years ago. The film was “Spellbound,” which followed eight young spellers as they prepared for and competed in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
Pawasarat called a friend – Jeff Kirsch, who directs the independent learning program in Spanish and Portuguese at the UW-Madison Division of Continuing Studies – and asked if he wanted to go.