A Henderson Intermediate School fifth grader will participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee this week in National Harbor, Maryland.
Soyeon Park, 10, advanced to the national competition after winning the Mid-South Spelling Bee in Memphis on March 5. Like she did at the regional spelling bee, Park will compete against 6th, 7th and 8th graders in Maryland.
“This just came as a surprise,” Park said. “I’ve just got into the school spelling bee and other spelling bees. I didn’t expect to win, but it kept happening.”
While Park herself may be surprised to find herself as a contestant in the National Spelling Bee, there is one group that is not surprised to see her winning spelling contests: Park’s teachers on the Archers Team at Henderson.
Park’s teachers describe her as an excellent student who regularly takes the initiative to learn more than what is covered in the classroom. The 10-year-old, while deservedly receiving attention for her accomplishments, is not motivated by recognition, math teacher Sarah Huffman said.
“She doesn’t view it as, ‘I’m trying to get this as a prize,’” Huffman said. “She views this as, ’this is something that I’m learning.’”
Park’s favorite subject is science. However, according to her teachers, her strong vocabulary also allows her to excel in language arts.
“She’s a voracious reader,” reading and social studies teacher Susan Bryant said. “Her vocabulary is outstanding, which obviously is helping her with spelling.”
The National Spelling Bee begins on Tuesday when all 285 contestants take a preliminary vocabulary contest. The preliminary test is worth up to 30 points for contestants.
On Wednesday, contestants will take to the stage for two rounds of spelling. If a word is misspelled, the contestant is eliminated. After those two rounds of spelling, the field is narrowed to no more than 50 spellers by creating a cutoff score from the preliminary test and spelling rounds.
The finals will take place on Thursday, with all remaining contestants continuing to spell until they are eliminated and a champion is declared.
The preliminary rounds will be broadcast online at watchespn.com and on the watchespn app beginning at 7 a.m. central time on Wednesday. The finals will be televised nationally, beginning with a 9 a.m. central time broadcast on Thursday on ESPN 2. The conclusion of the finals will air in prime time on ESPN, beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday night.
“She would describe herself as being an introvert, so I think that it’s pretty fearless of her to stand on a national stage with kids two grades higher than her,” Bryant said.
Park’s science teacher, Stacey Johnson, said Park’s parents have been supportive of their daughter as she pursues spelling competitions and other academic endeavors. He said Park is the type of student that will take advantage of the opportunity to learn the definition of more words, not just learn how to spell them.
Alexis Bush, Park’s language arts teacher, said Park will regularly ask if she can make her essays longer so she can include more information.
“Whatever we’re presenting to her, you can tell she’s really into it,” Bush said. “She’ll go research it and bring us back something we didn’t know.”
With Park advancing to the National Spelling Bee, Starkville has now been represented at the national level in back-to-back years. Bates Bennett placed 50th at the Spelling Bee in 2015. Louisville’s Dev Jaiswal placed in the top five last year.
The only other speller representing Mississippi in the 2016 National Spelling Bee is Sarah P. Spencer, a seventh grader from Hattiesburg.