“Aromatherapy.” “Entrepreneur.” “Bachelorette.” “Bugaboo.” “Cahoots.” “Hunky-dory.”

The tension climbed each time a Louisiana State Penitentiary security official read a word aloud for the Angola Spelling Bee. Get a letter wrong and, with a ring of a bell, a contestant would fall by the wayside.

For the prison’s aspiring word champions, the competition was a long time coming. Sponsored by the prisoner-led New Men Ministry and Sobriety Program, it was the brainchild of Daniel Dickerson, who is incarcerated at Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly called Angola Prison. Dickerson got the idea after watching the 2006 movie “Akeelah and the Bee.” His hope was that a spelling contest at the biggest maximum security prison in the United States would generate interest among people who might prefer reading and word games to traditional sports.

The competition debuted in 2014 and got off to a roaring start.

“We did two that same year, due to its popularity,” Dickerson said.

Michael Taylor, a graduate of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, won both contests. Wayne Deroche, his bee rival, finished third and then second. But it would be over a decade until the next bee, as the creator of the spelling bee dealt with health issues. The two men didn’t have a chance at another showdown until this year.

Taylor, as defending champ, entered as the speller to beat. In February, the preliminary competition whittled a group of more than 50 entrants into nine finalists who competed in March. Eventually, when contestant Dustin Talley misspelled the word “ingenious,” landing him third place, only Taylor and Deroche remained.

Deroche was given his next word: “osmosis.” He spelled it perfectly.

Then Taylor was asked to spell “millennial.” When he left out one “n,” the security official rang her bell.

But contest rules required that Deroche progress one more round to claim the title. The word he got, “adjudicate,” is familiar to prisoners thanks to experience in the legal system. Deroche spelled it correctly.

“Finally,” Deroche said. “This is my third one. I’ve won third, second, and now first.” 

It wasn’t easy, he said. “I wake up at midnight, when it’s nice and quiet, and I study until 4 o’clock in the morning, every night.” 

His passion for spelling comes from his fondness for writing. “You sit there and study and study and study, and you learn how letters fit together in words,” Deroche said. 

Taylor, the runner-up, said a good time was had by all.

“There’s a little pressure but a lot of fun,” he said. 

Taylor said he hadn’t always been a great student; he credited his father for his success in spelling and vocabulary. 

“It was one of the few things I found that I could do early in school,” he said. “I got to spelling because my father read a lot, so I started reading.”

Talley, a newcomer to the bee, enjoyed the experience. 

“I had a teacher that stressed Hooked on Phonics in the second grade,” he said. “But after that, I’m a natural speller.” 

Amber Finch, a prison accountant, served as judge and pronouncer for the preliminary round.  

“We are just trying to build up the morale of the inmate population,” she said. “They are welcome to ask me about words either before or after the spelling bee. I can help them with a word they might need to know.” 

The event concluded with a special meal. Taylor congratulated Deroche, and gave a friendly preview of their competition to come: “I’ll be back.”