ENTERPRISE, Ala. (WTVY) – Among 52 expert spellers from across the state of Alabama, a Coffee County fifth-grade student stood tall above the rest and earned his bid to the National Spelling Bee.
‘Dysphagia,’ a medical term for difficulty swallowing, was the winning word in the Alabama Spelling Bee for Hillcrest Elementary’s Ayden Nguyen.
Now, Ayden is on his way to the national stage.
“I was very excited,” said Ayden. “It was very fun to have this experience with other good spellers.”
It was a challenge at first, but Ayden kept his cool.
“That first round was kind of nerve-racking,” said Ayden. “Because there were a lot of people and the stage was pretty big, but after that, it was pretty easy.”
He trained hard for this moment… and it paid off.
“I learned of the Word Club app,” said Ayden. “It says the word and you can type it in. You can see the definition, and word of origin and use it in a sentence.”
Ayden’s journey was not lonely…
“My parents encouraged me to start spelling,” said Ayden. “My 2nd grade teacher Ms. (Allyson) Harper taught me words and word tricks. Ms. (Paige) Box, Ms. (Holly) Nix, and Mr. Newingham also helped me through this process.”
This, along with Ayden’s confidence and work ethic, has him ready to take on nationals.
The 2024 National Spelling Bee will take place the week of May 26.
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