ORANGE COUNTY, N.C. — An Orange County fifth grader is heading to this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee. 

What You Need To Know

  •  The Scripps National Spelling Bee starts next week

  •  There are 10 students from North Carolina heading to the national bee

  •  Isaiah Henry was the Duke Regional Spelling Bee winner

Isaiah Henry is a student at Grady Brown Elementary School and recently won the Duke Regional Spelling Bee.

That win gave him an entrance to the prestigious spelling bee in Washington, D.C. 

His winning word at the Duke Bee was “vanda,” which is a type of orchid. 

“I did not really study for it. I just spelled what I thought was right, and it seemed like a pretty simple word so I just spelled it 'v-a-n-d-a' and 

got it right," Isaiah Henry said.

"He was going to be competing with, you know, eighth graders and a lot of other kids who I figured were spending a lot of time studying," said his mom, Amanda Henry. "So we were very surprised."

Isaiah says he loves to read books, but his favorite subject is actually math. 

The Scripps Spelling Bee kicks off Tuesday, May 30. 

There are 10 students from North Carolina slated to compete in the national spelling bee.