This isn’t Sophia Mathew’s first spelling bee competition. In fact, the upcoming annual Spelling Bee of Canada National Championship will be Mathew’s fourth such event.
The Sudbury spelling queen bee has been competing in spelling competitions since Grade 1 and has won three regional level championships. This is her third time advancing to the finals, and this year, the finals are taking place in-person, in Toronto on June 12.
“I feel excited,” the fourth grader said in a Zoom call with Sudbury.com. “I don't feel nervous because I know I worked hard no matter what the turnout. It's luck of the draw what words I get, and I can't control that. And if I've studied hard, then whatever happens is the best I could have hoped for.”
The Holy Trinity Catholic Elementary student has been studying every day for up to an hour to prepare herself for the national championship. Despite being homeschooled for the past couple of years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mathew’s work ethic has been stellar even with the extra hours of studying for the spelling competition.
“I usually write some of the pages of words in dictionaries three times each. I also write them out on index cards, and the index cards are shuffled and quizzed on me,” Mathew said.
Sudbury.com’s newsroom decided to hold a mini spelling competition virtually with spelling champ Sophia. You can watch our mini spelling bee below:
@sudburydotcom Who will win? Journalists who spell for a living or 9-year-old spelling champ Sophia Mathew #fyp #foryou #sudbury #ontario ♬ FEEL THE GROOVE - Queens Road, Fabian Graetz
Mathews parents have been most supportive of her efforts going into the spelling competitions.
“I'm getting a prize from my parents, for all the hard work whether I win or not. So I'm getting a prize either way,” Mathew said.
Her parents have decided to gift her a Harry Potter, Chamber of Secrets Lego set for all the hard work she’s been putting in. Mathew is quite the Potterhead and the Chamber of Secrets is her favourite book in the series.
“We’re very proud of all of Sophia’s hard work,” Kiera Mathew, Sophia’s mother, said. “Really, the most important part to us is the hard work that goes into it. The spelling bee itself is like a fun celebration of all of her hard work. It would be wonderful if she gets the chance to stay in it and spell more words because I know she loves that. But just getting to be there is huge. And we're proud of her regardless of what happens whether she's out on the very first word of everyone, or whether she's the very last person standing at the end or anything in between.”
The Spelling Bee of Canada National Championship will be held on June 12 in Toronto at Beeton Hall in the Toronto Reference Library. The championship starts at 10 a.m. and will be held in-person for the first time since the pandemic started — just in time for their 35th anniversary. Be sure to cheer Sophia on in the comments below!
Eden Suh is a new media reporter at Sudbury.com.
