Can You Use That Word in a Sentence?

The winning word of this year’s spelling bee was ‘aurora’

On the last Saturday in February, there was a buzz in the air on East Campus — the Duke Regional Spelling Bee.

Duke sponsors the bee for elementary and middle school students from Durham Public Schools, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and Orange County Schools. This year, 30 students from across the region competed.

Sophie Sung of Bahama, N.C., won by spelling “aurora,” which is “a luminous phenomenon that consists of streamers or arches of light appearing in the upper atmosphere of a planet's magnetic polar regions,” according to Merriam-Webster, the bee’s official dictionary.

Sung, who is 11 years old and home schooled, was a runner-up last year and said she updated her prep to compete this time around.

 “After last year’s spelling bee, my mom printed out a list of words,” Sung said. “On school days I would look up and write down definitions of 20 of those words.” 

Participants await their turn.
Sophie Sung in front of the judges
Proud mom of Sophie

Sung said she also used her tablet to join a word club, which quizzed her on words. 

This was the 10th year Duke Community Affairs (DCA) has hosted the spelling bee. DCA plans and coordinates the event, offering local schools in the region guidance on their spelling bees, said Domoniqúe V. Redmond, senior director of education for Duke Community Affairs. DCA offers help with registration processes, as well as guidance on how to plan a school-wide bee.

Sophie will go on to the National Scripps Spelling Bee, which takes place in May in Washington, D.C. Duke Community Affairs provides $1,500 to support that trip.

Three finalists received medals: Hadley Barker of Gravelly Hill Middle School; Nicholas Hoffman of Triangle Day School, and Jumana Selman of Alhuda Academy.

“Education is crucial and DCA wants to support that across the region and state,” Redmond said. “This spelling bee is one more way that Duke fosters lifelong learners.”