AMARILLO, TEXAS -- After months of preparation, 7th grader Sonia Chen out-spelled her competitors. She was declared this year's winner for the 64th Regional Spelling Bee Competition. And it all came down to the word performance.
Twenty of the area's spelling bee champs went head to head to represent their county in the competition. They went through different levels of competitions within both their schools and counties before making it here. Despite her victory, Chen remains humble.
"I felt like it was really exciting that I could come here because it was my first year and everybody at my school was cheering for me and I felt really honored to be able to come here," said Chen.
Event coordinator, Suzie Self states how exciting it was for students to compete for the chance of making it to the National Spelling Bee competition in Washington D.C. "There's like 280 kids that go and the competition is stiff," said Self. "It means a lot for these kids to go and compete to the next level. They've been studying words for months."
As 1st place winner, Chen won an all-expense paid trip to the National Spelling Bee Competition in Washington D.C. as the area's representative amongst other prizes.
