Can you spell w-i-n-n-e-r? Kupuna Spelling Bee champ takes home more than bragging rights

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Seniors from throughout the state got here collectively on Oahu to indicate off their expertise for the Kupuna Spelling Bee Grand Championships on Saturday morning.

Greater than 100 seniors signed up for the spelling bee.

It took seven preliminary contests on all 4 counties and one grand championship match to search out the winner. And after greater than a dozen rounds, Metropolis Council Communications Officer Erika Engle was acknowledged as Hawaii’s very first Kupuna Spelling Bee champion.

“Overconfidence is the enemy of success,” stated Engle. “So I discovered on-line the Scripps Spelling Bee lists, and I studied and appeared them up within the dictionary.”

All that finding out paid off as a result of Engle received free round-trip tickets for 2 on Alaska Airways, in addition to a four-night keep on the California Resort and On line casino in Las Vegas.

Engle additionally toke residence a trophy for being the highest speller within the 60-69 years previous age class.

Different high spellers who took residence a trophy embrace Betty O’Rourke of Oahu, who represented the 60-69 years previous age class and Rosario Viernes from the 80-and-up and above class.

Former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann served because the announcer.

The occasion was organized by 17-year-old Riley Regan. He hoped that the occasion would deliver the aged neighborhood collectively and assist them in constructing their cognitive expertise.

All funds raised from the spelling bee have been donated to the Alzheimer’s Affiliation of Hawaii.

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