HOPKINSVILLE, KY. (WTVF) — For the second year in a row, Hopkinsville hosted a qualifying event for the Scripps National Spelling Bee and the top local speller is in Maryland right now for the big event!
"I just have to imagine myself so I can get used to it so I'm not nervous when I go up there," said Hopkinsville speller Josh Bullen.
Bullen is 13 and attends Hopkinsville Middle School.
He told NewsChannel 5 he didn't even win his class spelling bee, but his teacher thought he was talented enough to try to win at the prelims and he did! He is an avid reader who has prepared each day for Nationals since March.
"I study for like an hour, twice a day so two hours the entire day. I search for the definitions of the words , vocabulary and I try to memorize the words in my head," he said.
Josh earned a $500 gift card, a trophy and a medal.
Mina Chen who just finished 8th grade at Lipscomb Academy is also competing this year.
September 11, 2001 is a day most associate with terror and tragedy. Austin Pollack shares a story from that day about hope and persistence: the effort to save a little girl’s life – with an organ donation. The problem? The young patient was in Houston, and her life-saving liver here in Nashville. With the grounding of all civilian aircraft, how could it be done? “Nobody ever said this isn’t possible.”
- Rhori Johnston
