Justin — Ansun Sujoe, a sixth grader from Parkwood Hill Intermediate School, was the top speller at the Area 13 Spelling Bee Feb. 6 at Northwest High School.
The contest went more than 20 rounds and almost four hours and featured 52 campus winners from Keller and Northwest elementary, intermediate and middle schools.Ansun trains for spelling bees like any serious competitor, with lots of practice and the help of a good coach.“My dad gets words from everywhere and helps me,” Ansun said. “I just study.”Bose Sujoe, Ansun’s father, said, “I couldn’t be more proud.”Ansun said he practiced 20 to 30 minutes a day in the summer but increased his study time to about 90 minutes closer to bee day.The proof is in the results. Ansun won the Area 13 Spelling Bee two years ago as a Lone Star Elementary fourth grader and was runner up last year.Ansun will compete in the Fort Worth Regional Spelling Bee March 20 at Texas Christian University for a chance at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC, May 28.The winning word was provender, which means fodder for livestock or provisions. The runner up, Adel Hassan, an eighth grader from Hillwood Middle School, misfired on the word experiential.Adel faced competition from his little sister, Nabeela Hassan, a third grader from Eagle Ridge Elementary, who made the top three spellers. The siblings usually studied on their own but would quiz each other every once in a while.Presley Jorgensen, a third grader from Heritage Elementary who is visually impaired, made it to round 8. Presley studied by typing the words with her Braille device. She said she studied all 1,200 words by focusing on a different language of origin every day. She vowed to keep working and be back at a future bee.The spellers had various techniques for giving their best performance. Ansun used the back of his number card to “air write” the word with his finger as he spelled aloud. Adel always asked for the language of origin, the definition and for the word in a sentence. He was very polite, frequently thanking pronouncer Heather McMahan, assistant principal at Northwest’s Peterson Elementary.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
