​State Bee

Akira won the right to represent the 50th State with his triumph over 13 other public and private school spellers from across the state in March.

The words he spelled correctly to win: Powwow, threshold, hyphen, commensurate, hemerocallis, prosciutto, barukhzy, bobbejaan, disparity, lozenge, lamentation.

The trip to the National Bee marked Akira’s first time, along with 97 other spellers. At the Bee, one of the words Akira spelled correctly was “oyez,” an interjection to command silence and attention.

Another remarkable thing about Akira? He was born in Japan, where his mother Yoko is from. Congratulations to Akira, his family and his teachers at Chiefess Kamakahelei for making Hawaii proud.