A 13-year-old eighth grader from the William Davies Middle School in Mays Landing won the WHYY-Billy Penn South Jersey Regional Spelling Bee, Saturday, March 7.
Isaac Geremew took first place over 39 other students after 27 rounds of spelling lasting more than two hours. Isaac won by correctly spelling “Argobba,” an Ethiopian Semitic language.
He will attend the Scripps National Spelling Bee to be held in May in Washington, D.C.
Isaac said it will be “amazing” to represent his school and hometown at the national event.
“I feel like my hard work’s paid off, and now I can kind of enjoy the moment, and I’m really grateful to everyone who organized the spelling bee,” he told WHYY after the win.
He said he enjoys spelling because learning new words makes his English more "elegant."
Sonia Dragos, a seventh grader at Northfield Community Middle School was runner-up.
“It’s always tough to be second, but I think Isaac’s a really good speller, and he really deserved it,” she said.
Sonia said the most difficult word she learned is “ahuehuete,” which is a type of cypress tree that comes from Mexico.
Alina Perez Garcia of Camden's Promise Charter School came in third.
The national spelling bee contest has been around for more than 100 years and last year hosted 243 competitors from across the country.
