A Fairfax County spelling champion is inspiring and helping Mongolian students from around the country sharpen their spelling skills.
Thirteen-year-old Erdem Dulgunn is a three-time spelling champion and has been working on his spelling since he first found out about the competitions.
At first, he thought it involved honey.
"It had nothing to do with bees, but actually about spelling," he said. "To my surprise, I actually began to win among my elementary school peers.”
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The winning didn't stop since then, nor his mother's coaching, support or love.
"I’m so proud of him, he’s the joy of my life, like the best thing that has happened in my life," Bolormaa Jamiyansuren said.
Dulgunn's mother wanted to spread that joy and inspiration to other Mongolian families across the nation.
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To her surprise, many students in other states didn't have spelling competitions at their schools. So she and her son decided to set up a local bee with Fairfax County Public Schools for the students.
This weekend, 34 Mongolian students from eight states will gather at Wold Bank in D.C. and compete.
School leaders at Kilmer Middle School say this is a special moment.
“Bringing a community together to have fun, learn, I think there’s such great life skills that are being taught about setting a goal,” Amy Miller, the principal, said.
The Mongolian spelling bee will be on Saturday and the Mongolian ambassador to the United States will also be in attendance.
“I’m very proud of it, I think it’s the biggest accomplishment of my life,” Dulgunn said.
