BART Board to honor Train Operator's spelling bee champ son

Evan O'Dorney's dad is a BART Train Operator

At its next meeting on June 14, the BART Board of Directors will be honoring both this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee champion 13-year-old Evan O'Dorney and his father Michael O'Dorney.

"We are so proud of both of them!" BART Board President Lynette Sweet said. "We plan to present a resolution praising both Evan for his outstanding achievement and his father for his dedication to his son. We are truly honored to have them both in the BART family."

Many who know Michael aren't surprised that his son won the National Spelling Bee. Michael's bosses boast that Michael pays "extreme attention to detail" and his son "is a chip off the old block."

"Michael's very astute!" said his supervisor Diann Anderson. "He loves his job and he's very thorough in serving the public. He's family oriented; he would do anything to try to help his son in whatever endeavors he's trying to succeed in. This is a major feat to have a Bay Area talent succeed in the spelling bee and it's an honor to know him!"

Michael O'Dorney started with BART on March 1, 2004 after relocating to the Bay Area from Texas to have a better life. Michael is based out of BART's Hayward train yard.

Evan won the spelling bee in Washington D.C. By correctly spelling the word "serrefine."