CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — One local student won a trip to the East Coast, one letter at a time. Anthony Reyes is one of hundreds of other students who will compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
What used to be a challenge for the Haas Middle Schooleighth-grader is now a skill that's sending him to the big leagues. At the beginning of the school year, Reyes and his friends participated in their campus spelling bee, but little did he know that he would win first place.
“I wasn’t thinking about doing it but then my friends were telling me, 'Anthony, you should just do it with us just for fun,'" Reyes said.
The winning word that earned him a trophy and bragging rights among his friends was something sweet we all can appreciate: donuts.
Then, it was on to the Regional Spelling Bee as he took on other letter champions from schools across the Coastal Bend. He was one of the winners, so now he's headed to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Maryland. Reyes said he's been practicing to win ever since.
"To practice and get better, I would just rewrite the words. I’d rewrite them from A-Z, three times each and that really helped me," Reyes said.
He's not nervous about representing Corpus Christi in a national competition against nearly 250 other candidates. So what is it that makes him really nervous?
“I’m expecting to meet a bunch of new people and win for everybody. It’s just that I’m more nervous about the plane flight. I’ve never been on a plane before, so this is new,” Reyes said.
His mom, Adrianna Garcia, said she is proud of what he has accomplished, but winning the National Spelling Bee isn't the only thing she's rooting for.
“I want to see him push himself to his highest potential," Garcia said. "I know he can do it. I know what he’s capable of. I feel like he’ll be able to unlock a new door for himself.”
The Scripps National Spelling Bee Preliminaries begin Tuesday, May 28. The next rounds are Wednesday and Thursday with the finals beginning on Friday, May 31.
You can watch the word warriors in action on Ion, a sister network to KRIS 6 News.
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