OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Sarah Fernandes won the 2023 regional spelling bee. It’s the 94th year for the competition and it has always been held in Omaha.

With this win, Sarah goes on to the national spelling bee. It was something that she knew she wanted to do more than a year ago.

”It was last year I was in 4th grade. It was in my class spelling bee and ever since then I knew I wanted to do this really badly,” Sarah said.

And Sarah isn’t the first in her family to perform well in a spelling bee competition. Her older sister Hannah was the Midwest Bee champion in 2017 and 2021.

According to organizers, there are 200 kids who compete on the national level.

Sarah’s talent doesn’t end at spelling, she’s also an avid piano player and has performed at Carnegie Hall.