County spelling bee champ places in regional Top 3 | Palatka Daily News, Palatka, Florida

Armand Küykendall, pictured winning the Putnam County Spelling Bee in January, recently placed in the Top 3 in the regional spelling bee.
Armand Küykendall celebrates winning the Putnam County Spelling Bee in January for the third year in a row.
Positively Putnam FL

Armand Küykendall has his sights set on 2022 gold after finishing third in the First Coast Regional Spelling Bee championship Monday.

Küykendall, a Miller Middle School seventh-grade student, has won the county championship three years in a row. Last year, he was the third student eliminated at regionals. This year, however, he said it felt good finishing third out of the 14 competitors, who are champions in their school districts.

The competition was held virtually and Küykendall competed from the Putnam County School District headquarters over Zoom.

Küykendall had initial concerns about the quality of the Zoom feed affecting the competition. There is a five-minute limit for how long a competitor can be disconnected from the platform.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Küykendall said. “I don’t know if being virtual helped me or not. We got disconnected for a minute, but we got back in before the time limit was up.”

Erik Williams, an eighth-grader from St. Johns Country Day School in Clay County, won his third straight First Coast Spelling Bee championship. Williams, the sole regional competitor to move to the state competition, defeated Switzerland Point Middle School seventh-grader Manischa Wijayawardhana from St. Johns County after 25 rounds. The winning word was abience — an urge to withdraw or avoid a situation or an object.

In January, Küykendall won a nail-biter over Melrose Elementary School fifth-grader Connor Huntley after more than 20 rounds.

Küykendall’s mother, Rebecca Horn, said he had come a long way. Küykendall has been diagnosed with autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder

“We look at all the milestones he’s accomplished from where we started and we couldn’t be prouder,” Horn said.

With a trio of local spelling bee titles under his belt from fifth through seventh grade, Küykendall will be in his last year of eligibility when he is an eighth-grader. But first, he’s ready for an upcoming trip to Disney World.

“(Erik) isn’t going to be there next year, so it’ll be easier for me to win,” Küykendall said. “It’s a lot of studying. The spelling bee is fun, too.”

Miller Middle Principal Tim Adams said Küykendall’s academic achievements, ability to speak in front of people and top-three regional spelling bee finish are impressive.

“He’s a ray of sunshine and I really enjoy spending time with him,” Adams said. “He’s a special student and young man for us at Miller.”