WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — If someone asked you to spell pedagogy or natatorium, could you?
Well, those are just two of the words elementary and middle school spellers across the state are studying to prep for Friday’s state spelling bee.
"O-U-A-G-A-D-O-U-G-O-U,” Mishon Hyacinthe spelled.
Hyacinthe says he realized his gift of spelling in the first grade but people around him say they knew he was special long before that.
"What's your bible verse, son,” LaMon Hyacinthe asked.
“Isaiah 54:17 "No weapon formed against me shall prosper,” her son replied.
"And that sticks with him because he has a story too. From being born premature, 1 lb. 4 oz., the doctor says he wouldn't even make it. I didn't even really...I let that roll over me because there's a reason why he's here, God has a purpose for him," she said.
LaMon Hyacinthe, is his mom and his biggest cheerleader.
"Those words, whew. Its words I can’t even pronounce that I have to google sometimes. I’m like ‘oh, so that’s how you pronounce that, okay.’ Then we'll go from there," she said.
She’s rooted him on through his spelling bee journey.
Mishon has out spelled students in his classroom, county, and regional levels.
Now, he heads to state.
"I don't know how to explain it, but all the support just makes me a lot more confident and just makes me want to go up there and spell," the 13-year-old said.
Tambra Singletary, the school’s media specialist and spelling bee coordinator, is also a part of his support squad.
"When we won the county, that was like whew! and like I said, mom and I were sweating it out at the region," she said.
She's also been a coach and the staff member driving him and his mother back and forth to spelling competitions.
"You hear so many negatives in schools and when you see a kid like Mishon, you can’t help but want to help him,” Singletary said.
Mishon is the only kid in Northside Middle history to make it beyond the regional bee.
But no matter how far he's come his support system will always be behind him.
"He's going to be a winner to us no matter what happens tomorrow,” she smiled.
Mishon will compete Friday morning in Atlanta but before then, Northside Middle rallied around him getting his haircut and a few new outfits.
To send Mishon some words of encouragement ahead of his big day email Principal Dustin Dykes with your message at dustin.dykes@hcbe.net.
