While Nora Baker had to familiarize herself with many words leading up to The Washington Informer’s 44th Annual Citywide Spelling Bee, one she knows very well — and embodies — is “persistence.”
After competing in a few bees and placing second last year, Nora walked away with the top prize at the D.C. Office of Cable, Television, Film, Music and Entertainment (OCTFME) in Northeast D.C. on March 14.
“I was very happy and satisfied that I finally won it after four years,” she told The Informer.
Winning the bee took hard work, Nora said.
“For the last few months I would do 30 minutes a day on the Word Club app after school,” the eighth grader said.
Leila Ghista, a fourth grader who placed second in the bee, also said regular practice made all the difference in feeling prepared for the competition.
“It wasn’t easy but it was [exactly] what I thought it would be,” she told The Informer. “I [made sure] to study all the words.”
Nora and Leila were among the top 30 spellers from schools across the District who put their skills to the test in the citywide bee, sponsored by OCTFME, National Cherry Blossom Festival, Comcast, District of Columbia Public Schools, Foundation for the Advancement of Music & Education Inc. (FAME), Pepco, Safeway Foundation, Sign-a-Rama (Silver Spring), Washington Gas and The Washington Nationals.
“Pepco is proud to sponsor The Washington Informer Spelling Bee and support an event that uplifts literacy, learning, and academic achievement for students across our communities,” Pepco said in a statement.
Michelle Musgrove, VP of customer experience at Washington Gas, explained that the company supports the annual competition as part of a larger mission to empower others.
“When we invest in young people, we invest in stronger communities and better outcomes for everyone,” Musgrove said in a statement. “Washington Gas is proud to support opportunities that help students grow into capable, confident leaders.”
Beyond the competition itself, the event served as a space for students to build confidence, sharpen discipline and face pressure head-on, lessons organizers say matter far more than simply winning or losing.
“Kids come in and they do the spelling bee and I always tell them, look at this fun, weird skill you have that people will reward,” Jason Moore, the bee’s coordinator, told The Informer.
Building Spelling Skills
Leila, a student at Lafayette Elementary, entered the competition with confidence built through preparation.
“I knew I would do well and at least make it to the final five,” she told The Informer.
Daily practice sessions with her teacher and studying thousands of potential words helped the fourth grader supersede her goal of making it to the final five.
“I liked practicing every day with my teacher, it was really interesting and fun,” she said.
For students like Leila, the spelling bee isn’t just a competition, it’s a chance to grow, learn, and return even stronger the next time around.
“I want to come back next year and learn about all the words and [their] languages of origin,” she added.
Going forward, spelling practice has not slowed down for Nora, who is preparing for the national competition at DAR Constitutional Hall in Northwest D.C. on May 26-28.
“I’m going to have to prepare a little differently for this one because it’s open to the entire dictionary rather than a list of 4,000 words,” she said. “[But regardless] I think it’s just really fun to compete against other people.”
What Nora viewed as friendly competition, felt like an intense matchup for her father Chuck Baker.
“The bees themselves are incredibly nerve-racking,” he told The Informer. “I’m a big sports fan but there’s really nothing quite like your kid standing up there, all by herself… and she gets some word that sounds impossible and she just spits it out [easily].”
Despite the high-stakes competition, Nora is prepared to face whatever words come her way during the next phase of the bee.
“[My] winning word was Portugais,” she said. “When I got the word, I knew I finally had won because I was 100% positive I knew the word.”
More Than a Bee: ‘The Best Life Lesson a Child Can Get’
For Moore, the annual competition is about far more than a trophy, accolades and advancing to nationals.
“My absolute favorite thing to do is to work with students and families to see what excellence is and show, not how easy it is to attain it, but how attainable it is,” he told The Informer.
Although she won this year’s top prize, Nora walked away from the competition with lessons that stretched beyond spelling. Focusing, the 2026 winner said, is critical when working to achieve a goal.
“Try the hardest you can and try to block out all the distractions,” she emphasized.
Parents also witness the wealth of benefits of participating in such programming like The Washington Informer and WI Charities Spelling Bee. Anamika Ghista, Leila’s mom, praised the organizer for creating a welcoming environment for students, despite the competitive nature of the annual competition.
“Jason Moore, the way he does it, he’s so positive,” she said. “He encourages all of the kids and just makes it such a great experience for them so that it’s not a high-pressure experience.”
Moore emphasized the spelling bee is about much more than vocabulary. It’s about growth.
“No matter how nervous [some get] they’re pushing through their fears and nerves, and that is about the best life lesson a child can get,” he told The Informer.
