LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. – While she can spell words many of us have never even heard of, Jordan Hoffman was a loss for them when she made it to the final round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
“All the kids are always cheering each other on,” said Jordan, 14. “Even though it is a competition I think the spellers view it as a competition between themselves and the dictionary instead of between each other.”
For the third time in three years, Jordan joined hundred of kids in Washington DC for the annual spelling competition. The teen who will enter high school after summer ended up beating nearly 300 of them to capture a spot in the top ten.
“I have no regrets,” she said. “I did my best and I am so excited to be named eighth place out of a field of brilliant spellers.”
A place Jordan says she wouldn’t have been if not for the help of her spelling coach — little sister Sophia.
“She went really far and she benefited from it,” Sophia said. “She does inspires me to do other things like dance and spell.”
For all the calm Jordan exhibited, her parents Mark and Ruth made up for while she was at the microphone.
“There were words she spelled that I’ve never even heard before,” said Ruth. “I think that cardiologists could use it for the nuclear stress tests and just strap the parents up to test the heart functionality because your heart does race for each of those children.”
While in she didn’t win the overall competition, Jordan is incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to be among the nation’s best spellers.
“You gain so much more from the experience than just the knowledge that you learn,” said Jordan. “You also gain study habits and you gain experience on stage and it’s been such a blessing for me.”
Plus she said she learned a new word; what it means for colored hair to go gray. Canities, the word she missed on the stage.
While this was the last year Jordan could compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, she said she is not done competing. From here on out, she will focus on her composing and music hobbies.
