Eighth-grader repeats as winner of Cumberland County spelling bee; will get shot at nationals

The pandemic has altered all of our lives and plans.

But champion speller Sophia Tun would not give the virus the last word.

In fact, Sophia herself had the last word on Friday morning — “serene.”

Her correct spelling gave the eighth-grader her second title in the Cumberland County Level III Spelling Bee, held at the Educational Resource Center on Elementary Drive in Fayetteville. She will go on to compete against more than 200 regional winners in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, scheduled for June 1-2 in Washington, D.C. The event will be televised on the ION network.

Sophia, who is 13, attends Pine Forest Middle School. Her parents are mother, Kyawt Swe, and father, Nay Tun. She has an 11-year-old brother.

In 2020, she won the county Level III bee as a sixth-grader.

“Ultimatum," she says when asked her winning word that year. Then she broke into a broad grin: “U-L-T-I-M-A-T-U-M. Ultimatum.”

Sophia did not get her chance to compete in D.C. in 2020; the coronavirus pandemic, then in its earlier stages, canceled the Scripps Bee.

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The finalists on Friday were all winners of their classroom and schoolwide bees and a Level II bee earlier this week. In addition to Sophia, they were Danica Decker, who was runner-up in the county bee, from Stoney Point Elementary School; Cadence Grant from Alderman Road Elementary School; Aubrey Hinderaker from Ben Martin Elementary School; Rondo Halliday from VanStory Hills Elementary School; Jala Nguyen from Ponderosa Elementary School; and Makai Sillekens-Longsworth from District 7 Elementary School.

Timely victory

Sophia’s victory Friday was timely; as an eighth-grader, she is in her last year of eligibility for the Scripps competition.

Among words she spelled correctly en route to the county championship on Friday were “scraggly,” “tragicomic” and “flumes.”

Sophia said she trains for bees by studying with her dad, daily.

“He pronounces the words and I just spell them,” she says.

In competition, she says her strategy is to stay focused on herself.

“I pretend that, like, no one else is there, and it’s just me,” she says, “and I’m just like spelling out the words. It’s just me. I don’t focus on anyone else.”

But Sophia is clearly aware of other spellers when it is not her turn to spell. At one point she gave an encouraging nod to Danica Decker, with whom she shared a table at the bee. Danica had just carefully spelled out a tricky word.

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Last year’s local and national bees were held virtually.

Organizer Jennifer Lloyd on Friday said it was good to be back in person.

“If we have learned anything from our experiences in the pandemic it is to not take for granted the opportunities we have to come together to celebrate,” says Lloyd, a K-5 ELA curriculum specialist . “Our spelling bees this week have been a time of celebration … celebrating learning … celebrating our community partnerships, and celebrating our outstanding Cumberland County Students.”

Opinion Editor Myron B. Pitts can be reached at mpitts@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3559.

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This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Eighth-grader wins Cumberland County spelling bee; heads to nationals