University Elementary School 6th grader wins IU Bee for 3rd consecutive year
The third time was still a charm for sixth grader Yena Park, who won Friday’s regional spelling bee for the third consecutive year.
The Scripps Regional Spelling Bee — also known as the IU Bee — is sponsored by The Media School.
The bee was administered virtually this year using the Scripps Online Testing Platform. The 15 participants were each monitored by a teacher while taking the 30-minute test.
Xander Hutton, an eighth grader at John R. Wooden Middle School in Martinsville, was the runner-up.
Park, a student at University Elementary School in Bloomington, will receive a 2021 United States Mint Proof set, a one-year online Britannica premium subscription and a one-year subscription to Merriam-Webster Unabridged online dictionary.
As the winner, Park qualifies for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Preliminary, quarterfinal and semifinal rounds are virtual, but the finals will be July 8 in Orlando, Florida, at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort.
Park competed in nationals in 2019 and reached the semi-finals. She qualified for the 2020 national bee, but it was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Update (June 14, 2021)
Park competed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee June 12 and advanced through three rounds of spelling. She will compete in the quarterfinals Tuesday.
Park, the 21st speller in Saturday’s competition, correctly spelled “bordereaux” and “Mesoamerican,” and she correctly defined “accentuate.”
Park said it was her lucky day.
“Going into the competition, I didn’t even expect to win regionals,” Park said.
She said she was pretty nervous and excited and wanted to know how far she could go.
“We are so proud of her,” Hyun Kwon, Park’s mother, said. “We’re so grateful to see her hard work pay off, especially since she was so sad that the National Spelling Bee was canceled due to COVID-19 last year, which she was supposed to participate in.”
Update (June 15, 2021)
Park competed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee quarterfinals June 14, correctly spelling “sfumato” and correctly defining “idiopathic.” Her third round word was “fanion,” which she spelled “fannion.”