Fil-Am, 11, tops Florida
spell
bee One of today’s articles
clearly shows another achievement by
Filipinos around the world. In Orlando, Florida,
Philippine-born Miguel Gatmaytan
won top honors in one of the longest
spelling bees in Central Florida. Miguel is an 11 year old
student at the Osceola Middle School
in Marion County.
The contest took 38 rounds to win, beating 13 other contestants. He is the youngest regional spelling bee
winner in more than a decade. Aside from
a trophy and various prizes, he also won a
trip to Washington, DC
where he will also be competing in the 80th National Spelling Bee on
May 30 and 31. Miguel’s winning word was
“cossack”. The article clearly and
specifically
describes how Miguel won over the other finalists.
Miguel’s family moved to Florida
from the Philippines
three years ago. His father describes
him as a child who loves to read always and a very intelligent student. He felt that Miguel always had a talent with
words. The trip to the nation’s capital
will be Miguel’s first. This is also the
first spelling bee he joined. Not only
did he study every night to prepare for the contest, but his parents also
grilled him with hundreds of words to help him practice.