{"id":1192,"date":"2026-05-20T22:05:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T22:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1192"},"modified":"2026-05-20T22:05:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T22:05:38","slug":"pinellas-county-eighth-grader-heads-to-scripps-national-spelling-bee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1192","title":{"rendered":"Pinellas County eighth grader heads to Scripps National Spelling Bee"},"content":{"rendered":"

TARPON SPRINGS, Fla<\/strong> – <\/span>The Tampa Bay region is no stranger to champions, including back-to-back winners at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>

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What we know:<\/p>

Next week, another local student will compete in the national spelling bee and hopes to take home the top prize.<\/p>

Park Allen, a 14-year-old eighth grader at East Lake Middle School, is preparing to face off against the nation’s best spellers.<\/p>

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When asked about the toughest word he has encountered, a city was his answer.<\/p>

“There are tough ones, but I think one that I like is Ouagadougou,” Allen said, effortlessly spelling out the capital of Burkina Faso: “O-U-A-G-A-D-O-U-G-O-U.”<\/p>

Persistence pays off\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>

The backstory:<\/p>

“It was about fourth grade when we started writing essays and we started doing spelling practices and going through spelling tests and I kind of had a knack for it,” Allen said about spelling.<\/p>

Allen joined his school’s spelling bee club last year and finished in third place at the regional competition, falling just short of advancing to nationals. This year yielded a different result.<\/p>

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“Thanks to me getting first in the regional spelling bee, and thanks to the University of South Florida College of Education, who set it up for me and is sponsoring me at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, I’m lucky enough to advance,” Allen said.<\/p>

A winning tradition in Tampa Bay<\/h2>

What they’re saying:<\/p>

“It means a lot to me. It’s hard to put it into words. I’ve always seen previous winners that have come from this area, and I never thought I was going to be in that position. I really hope that I can make the area proud,” he said.<\/p>

Dev Shah, a student from Pinellas County, won in 2023, and Bruhat Soma, a student from Hillsborough County, won in 2024.<\/p>

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East Lake Middle School\u2019s spelling bee club is led by teacher Richard Kennedy, who\u2019s also the eighth grade engineering department head. He quickly noticed Allen’s unique talent and composure under pressure.<\/p>

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“He just has a certain confidence to him that allows him to \u2026 you ask him these words, and he’s like, ‘Oh yeah, I know that one,'” Kennedy said. “Then he just calmly and happily goes through it, and so for me as the teacher, I\u2019m just proud of him.”<\/p>

“Every year I have certain students that I refer to as my silent assassins, and Park is definitely one of them,” Kennedy said.<\/p>

With the competition just days away, Allen said it is now crunch time. He has been going through a list of 4,000 flashcard words with his mom, and utilizing SpellPundit.<\/p>

“I’ve been using this program called SpellPundit to learn the roots because all words are made of prefixes and suffixes. And if I can master all of those, hopefully I can know most of the words,” Allen said.<\/p>

Preparing and strategizing<\/strong><\/h2>

What’s next:<\/p>

When he steps up to the microphone next week, Allen plans to rely on a strategy.<\/p>

“I try and take it word by word and not get in my head, [or] realize how many competitors are left, and just be me with the word,” Allen said. “And once I conquer that, I’m to the next round.”<\/p>

The Scripps National Spelling Bee begins Tuesday, May 26 with 247 competitors. The semifinals will broadcast on ION on Wednesday from 8 to 10 p.m. The finals will be on Thursday during the same time frame.<\/p>

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The Tampa Bay region is no stranger to champions, including back-to-back winners at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,9],"tags":[38,11],"class_list":["post-1192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-pinellas-county","tag-education","tag-pinellas-county"],"yoast_head":"\nPinellas County eighth grader heads to Scripps National Spelling Bee - Tampa moving journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1192\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pinellas County eighth grader heads to Scripps National Spelling Bee - 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