Rena Humes, the winner of the 2019 Aiken County Scripps National Spelling Bee, got some good advice from her school's library media specialist, Michelle King, before the competition.
“Her special tip was spell all the words right,” said Humes, a sixth-grader at Kennedy Middle School.
And she did – even “hypothesis,” which Humes said was one of the harder words.
“It was just long,” she said.
Humes, a daughter of Yoon Park and Donald Humes, spelled the words “popularity” and “boutique” Monday night to win the spelling bee in 10 rounds. She will travel to Washington, D.C., in late May to compete with spellers from across the country in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Humes was the runner-up in the 2018 bee when she was a student at J.D. Lever Elementary.
Humes said she had a feeling she might win this year.
“I'm definitely really hyped that I won,” she said. “I kind of knew it was going to happen because my Mom was praying really hard for me, and we were studying so much. I definitely feel relieved that it's over, and I'm still kind of nervous. My legs are still shaking a little bit – but it's a really good feeling.”
Humes said she and her mom worked on spelling lists for about an hour every day to prepare for the bee, and for that help, Humes said she'll share the iPad she won for first place with her.
“She'll probably get it for about a month,” said Humes, who communicated with her mom in Korean after the bee.
“I'm so proud of her,” Yoon Park said. “We worked so hard, and it worked out. I thank you, God, so much.”
Andrew Pond, an eighth-grader at Paul Knox Middle School in North Augusta, placed second. He is a son of Mandy and Brad Pond.
Read the full Aiken Standard article HERE