Top young speller 'stoked' about spelling bee win

Some of Newfoundland and Labrador's best young spellers took to the stage on Saturday in St. John's at the fourth annual spelling bee presented by The Telegram.

Sixty-four spellers represented 34 schools from across the province, making for the biggest spelling bee yet, and there was some tough competition.

Mattie Cull, 11, a Grade 6 student at Cloud River Academy in Roddickton, outspelled the competition to win the bee.

"I'm stoked," Cull said.

"I'm shaking right now, I don't know what to feel."

She spelled "adhocracy" correctly to win the competition, as well as a $2,000 educational bursary,and the right to travel to Washington, D.C. to compete in the The Scripps National Spelling Bee against spellers from all over the world.

'So many more words to learn'

Cull worked hard to prepare for the bee, practicing and studying after school.

"I spent, after school, about an hour studying all of my words, just going over them until I was pretty sure of how I was spelling them," she said.

Cull isn't sure just yet if she'll be going to Washington, however.

"My mom already asked me if I wanted to go, and I said I don't know," she said.

"I was really iffy about it, that's so many more words to learn."

Even if she doesn't make the trip, Cull said she plans to use a portion of her winnings to buy an iPhone.