At WHHS, students are always participating in different activities. For Sheridan Hennessy, ‘24, spelling is more than just an English class requirement.

Hennessy moved on to the Regional Spelling Bee and had to do a lot to prepare.

“I had to study the word lists every day,” Hennessy said. She also went the extra mile and studied the National Spelling Bee word list.

Hennessy transferred to Hyde Park School in third grade where she realized she could participate in the spelling bee. “I thought it sounded fun and ended up going to Regionals and coming in ninth place,” Hennessy said.

Hennessy has always enjoyed learning different words and the spelling bee helped with that. Hennessy not only does this for the learning of new words but because of the thrill. “I enjoy competing because of the excitement,” she said.

She was surprised by herself when she realized how far in the spelling bee she was going. “I wasn’t really thinking of Nationals or anything big when I first started. I just wanted to try something new,” Hennessy said.

Now that Hennessy has made it this far, she knows to always work hard. She is going to try her best to move on as far as she can. However, she will remain competing to enjoy no matter what. “I did not know I was gonna be doing this still, but now that I am I will continue to work for Nationals and bigger goals,” Hennessy said.

Hennessy has done this for five years and has had a lot of experience with it. She mentions it is a hard journey but you have to give it your all. “Never skip the word list just because you think you’re good. If you don’t study and get confident you don’t have a chance,” Hennessy said.