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Herfurth Elementary School student Ariana Martinez Hueda set a district record in May when she became the first Garland ISD student to win the Region 10 ESC Third Grade Spanish Spelling Bee.
The 9-year-old won the title on May 19 when she beat competitors from seven North Texas districts.
This is only the second year Garland ISD has participated in the Region 10 ESC Spanish Spelling Bee.
Martinez Hueda — who has been attending classes virtually — developed her own system to study nearly 600 words every night.
Following her district win, she refined her system, color coding words by spelling patterns to help her study.
Her tiresome nightly review of 600 or more words for over six months paid off when she earned the first-place title by correctly spelling anillo (ring) in the regional competition’s last round.
Martinez Hueda and her family celebrated her win by going to eat mud pie, a type of cake, at a nearby restaurant, she said.
After the win, her school’s principal and assistant principal and her homeroom teacher stopped by her family’s home to surprise her with balloons and flowers. Martinez Hueda said it made her feel special.
Martinez Hueda said the most difficult word she learned to spell was actualización, which is Spanish for update.
Martinez Hueda’s mother, Nora Hueda, said she feels proud of her daughter. She watched the virtual spelling bee inside her car from the parking lot outside a Garland ISD administrative building. When she realized her daughter won, she was elated, she said.
“I started screaming,” Hueda said. She then ran to the entrance of the building, trying to find her daughter so she could take photos of her.
Martinez Hueda said the spelling bee was a really positive experience, but wasn’t always easy.
“I studied a lot of words a day — like 10 pages a day. And sometimes I got frustrated,” she said.
Despite the amount of work it entailed, she’s considering doing it again next year. If she does well, she’d have an opportunity to compete at the National Spanish Spelling Bee, which is open to students between fourth and eighth grade.
And if she wins again, she’ll do at least one thing differently.
“I think I would get a different dessert,” she said. “Something with chocolate.”