Saturday marked the end of this year’s spelling bee road for Snyder Primary School third grader Ayann Kanji.
Kanji was this year’s Snyder ISD district spelling bee winner and competed against 14 other students, ranging from third to eighth grades, in the regional spelling bee at Lubbock Memorial Civic Center this weekend.
“I think I did well, and I will try to go again next year,” Kanji said. “I think I’ll study more on the other pages in the back (of the spelling practice book) instead of studying the pages in the front.”
Kanji said he was nervous competing against the other students at Saturday’s spelling bee because like him they were all district bee winners. Most of the participants were also older, Kanji said.
Though Kanji did not advance, he said he feels good about what he has accomplished.
After winning his grade-level spelling bee, Kanji won the district spelling bee after 11 rounds of competition.
He also received encouraging words from his mother following his defeat.
“She said that I did well, and she’s proud that I at least tried,” he said.
The regional spelling bee winner was Matthew Noel of Bennett Elementary School at Friendship ISD.
Noel will go on to compete in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, which will be held in Washington, D.C. in May. The finals on May 31 will be televised by ESPN.