Mann Middle School student to compete in national spelling bee for 2nd time
ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) — Last year, Abilene was represented in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and this year, Mann Middle School student Sariah Titus is making another appearance.
Ortiz Elementary student makes history after winning Big Country Spelling Bee
Titus competed at the competition in 5th grade when she was a student at Ortiz Elementary School. Now a 6th grader, Titus said she originally did not want to compete again, but her goals for this time are a little different.
“I didn’t want to do it, ” Titus said. Then, I found out how good of an opportunity this is. I’m trying to do better than I did last year and make it to the finals, and I’m trying to learn how to keep myself calm on stage. I also want to think of the other people who are spelling as well, to think of them not as competitors but as friends.”
To prepare herself for the competition against 244 other spellers, she must study multiple words quickly.
“The Nationals is way more complex,” Titus told KTAB/KRBC. “You have a whole unabridged dictionary, which unabridged means complete, and you would have to say a lot of words in like three months.”
When Titus first arrived at Mann Middle School in 2023, Principal Chad Drake said he was aware of the intelligence that had arrived at the campus.
“As soon as she won, I texted her former principal, Miss Greenwood at Ortiz, and she was obviously catching me up on her journey last year,” Drake said. We were so excited to get her over from Ortiz because she’s just outstanding when it comes to spelling specifically; that’s one of her strengths.”
AUDIO QUIZ: Try to spell the words from the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals
Titus spends most of her time studying for the national contest, getting ahead on her schoolwork, and going through the class dictionaries. Her English teacher, Kellsea Chapin, said Titus also uses her knowledge in the classroom.
“Whenever somebody says, ‘How do you spell this, Miss Chapin?’ Sariah starts spelling it right away, right along with me sometimes,” Chapin explained. “It is amazing that she is as intelligent as she is and has this natural ability, but she is also incredibly kind. And that is something that is very unique, especially in a middle school setting.”
Titus will compete in the preliminary round on May 28 in Washington, D.C., and she is the first person in her family to compete in the national spelling bee.
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