W-i-n-n-e-r. Durham student’s success inspires confidence before National Spelling Bee
Cheers from Frank Dumas’ classmates rang out when he walked out of Bethesda Elementary with his family last week.
His classmates were celebrating the news that he soon would be competing in the National Spelling Bee, and some of his classmates even picked him up and tossed him into the air briefly a few times as they cheered him on.
The fourth-grader will represent Durham Public Schools and his elementary school as one of 200 students on the national stage competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C on June 2.
“He’s nervous,” said his mother, Kenya Dumas, in an interview. “And the nerve is more about not wanting to lose. He wants to win.”
News of his win drew statewide attention, including a shout-out from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.
“C-o-n-g-r-a-t-u-l-a-t-i-o-n-s, Frank! Good luck — we’re rooting for you here in North Carolina,” Cooper said last week, congratulating the student in a social media post.
The 10-year-old has been busy preparing by studying three to four hours a week in addition to his schoolwork, he said.
“I feel confident because I’ve studied a lot,” he told The News & Observer. “So, I know that I can spell those words.”
Frank was joined by his homeroom class for a brief news conference alongside his parents and his twin sister, Ana, in which he spoke about his accomplishment.
Shy in front of cameras and microphones, Frank described how he prepped for the school’s bee.
“First I was in the class spelling bee and I won that, so I had to go to the grade one and I studied for the grade one ‘cause I kind of wanted to win it,” he said in the news conference. “After I won that it was the school one, and I like, studied a bunch.”
Frank won at the Duke Regional Spelling Bee on March 26, for which the Duke Office of Durham and Community Affairs awarded him a trip with one parent to Washington, D.C., for National Spelling Bee Week, according to Durham Public Schools.
A love for language
Frank’s twin sister shares his love for reading and language, with whom he has enjoyed studying Spanish and French through the app, Duolingo.
Their mother started to encourage them to participate in spelling bees after she had done so herself as a child, she said.
“That was part of my motivation in challenging them to participate, and not just participate in the school spelling bee, but to really take it serious, to dive in and see how they could challenge themselves to learn more words and gain an appreciation, love and respect for words,” said Kenya Dumas.
But Kenya Dumas wants to make it a point that Frank is also just a regular elementary school student — not a boy who studies all the time, she said.
“Yes, he’s going to the (National) Spelling Bee but he’s not just a speller,” said Kenya Dumas in an interview. “He’s this normal kid who likes doing all the kid stuff, and he likes spelling. So, it’s not just ‘spelling is his life.’ He has a lot of other activities he enjoys.”
Kenya Dumas said her son is passionate about his friends, playing basketball and wants to learn Spanish to practice with his friends in school.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee will make its primetime debut on ION, Bounce and Laff, available free and over-the-air to viewers as well as on cable and streaming.
ION will air the semifinals on June 1 and the finals on June 2, hosted by actor and literacy advocate LeVar Burton, of “Roots,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Reading Rainbow.”
