January 19, 2023

(Hoover, AL) -  The Hoover City Schools District (HCS) held its 2023 District Spelling Bee on Tuesday, January 17, at Spain Park High School, where R. F. Bumpus Middle School 8th-grader Serena Agrawal won first place. The soft-spoken yet confident and bright 13-year-old maintained her competitive lead throughout the District Spelling Bee, which lasted 26 rounds and about 90 minutes. Jay Jacob, a 7th grader at Berry Middle School, was the runner-up.

Agrawal said, “I’m excited and worked really hard, so I’m very happy. I want to thank my mom and dad for helping me so much to prepare for the Spelling Bee.”

Profundity: That was the championship word that Agrawal spelled correctly. The definition of profundity is "deep insight; great depth of knowledge or thought." Although Agrawal admits she didn’t know the meaning of the word, it didn’t appear to take the profundity one would expect for her to spell it correctly. 

“It wasn’t too bad because it’s spelled how it’s pronounced,” said Agrawal. “The words themselves were not so hard for the Bee. The hard part is preparing for it and participating in the actual competition because I was so nervous.”

Bumpus Middle School Principal Donna Burke said, “We are so proud of Serena. She works so hard at school, and it did not surprise us at all that she won. We also look forward to cheering her on at the next level.”

Jacob, the runner-up, was eliminated after misspelling the word pallor, which means “an unhealthy pale appearance.” Thirteen students from across the District who won their individual school’s Spelling Bee participated in the District Spelling Bee. Ten HCS elementary schools were represented, along with all three middle schools. Agrawal will now represent HCS in the Jefferson County Spelling Bee next month.