Glenhope Elementary School

After a first-place finish in the area spelling bee, which included all of the first place school winners from GCISD and Carroll ISD, Glenhope fourth grader Cayden Sirirak advanced to compete at the regional spelling bee hosted by TCU where he came in third.

“All of Glenhope is so proud of Cayden and all of the work that he put in to be successful in the spelling bee,” said Glenhope Principal Dr. Wynette Griffin.

The regional spelling bee was held Tuesday, March 7, where the 23 area champion spellers representing 509 schools across North Texas competed.

“I’m like, how did I even get here,” Sirirak said. “I thought I was going to lose in one of the first rounds.”

Not so.

“Every time he got up there, we were literally holding our breath,” said Glenhope Assistant Principal Lauren Vise, who accompanied Sirirak to the competition. “But every time he walked up there he was super confident and he delivered. He was amazing.”

She also said that he was one of the youngest competitors, which impressed people in the audience.

“The people in the row in front of us were saying, ‘he is so poised, put together and knows exactly what he is doing every time he is up there,’” she said.

For now, Sirirak is taking a break.

“I’m taking a short break from spelling because I would spell every day before the competition started,” he said.

However, he plans to start practicing soon in preparation for next school year’s spelling bee.

“I still feel like I really want to win another school trophy, and then pass to the district bee and then make it to the regionals again,” Sirirak added. “I’m going to continue competing in spelling bees until eighth grade.”

For now, he said he is happy and will display his medal from the regional spelling bee next to his district trophy, as well as his two school trophies since he has won the spelling bee at Glenhope two consecutive years.

Way to make GCISD P-R-O-U-D, Cayden!