Orange Public School student, 10-year-old Sam Dunlop has secured his spot in "the prestigious" NSW Premier's Spelling Bee challenge - the region's only junior competitor to advance to the state final round in Sydney.
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"There were some really good participants, and they were all doing really, really well," Sam said of the competition.
"But I got the word 'enterprise' right, because I watch Star Trek sometimes."
From a starting pool of 165,000 students, the Year 4 OPS student pegged top spots across his school-based and zone finals, before competing against almost 1600 other challengers in the regional final on September 5.
Although Sam won the title of junior champion last year, students were unable to progress any further due to COVID, which railroaded the competition.
This only seemed to gave Sam a new fire in the belly for the 2022 challenge, with Sam's mum, Katy Dunlop, describing her son's solid determination.
"Sam came back with a goal; to repeat that success from the year prior," Mrs Dunlop said.
"He's certainly put in the work to get here, and we're all really proud of him."
Being "quite tenacious with his practice", Mrs Dunlop said one example of Sam's revolve was taking the list of words with him in the car during family outings.
In the junior division, the Premier's Spelling Bee list includes words such as "notary", "scrupulous", "cavalcade" and "embargo", with some offhand words thrown Sam's way during the last big heat.
After going toe-to-toe with another young competitor online, Sam's family were all waiting with bated breath in the background.
While the room buzzed with anticipation, Sam also had an additional thought plaguing his mind.
"He kept getting through to the next round, and he was feeling very excited and surprised," Mrs Dunlop said.
"When he started realising he was doing quite well, he turned around and said 'if I win, will you take me to the Coronet [Milk Bar]?'"
Along with two successful senior students from Central Tablelands schools, Sam will now go on to complete at the ABC studios in Ultimo.
A total of 30 junior and 30 senior finalists from around NSW will meet on November 4, where they'll go head-to-head to win the State Champion title.
"Sam's got an inquisitive little mind and he'll be hard on himself, but I also think he'll take it in his stride," Mrs Dunlop said.
"It's a challenge that he really enjoys, and we're just so proud of him."
All state finalists will receive silver medallions, book prizes, and a Macquarie Dictionary.
State Champions receive gold medallions, with their name and school acknowledged on a perpetual trophy.
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Emily Gobourg
Em Gobourg is a Cabonne-based journo with the CWD. Outside of people and business yarns, she's usually wearing Tradie boots or found on a rugby paddock. Want to get in touch? Flick an email to emily.gobourg@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Em Gobourg is a Cabonne-based journo with the CWD. Outside of people and business yarns, she's usually wearing Tradie boots or found on a rugby paddock. Want to get in touch? Flick an email to emily.gobourg@austcommunitymedia.com.au
