- February 4, 2026
Sean Adrian Salvacion receives the 2026 Flagler County Spelling Bee trophy from Flagler Schools Teaching and Learning Specialist Kristin Frank. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Sean Adrian Salvacion holds up his trophy. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Sean Adrian Salvacion of Imagine School At Town Center holds up his Spelling Bee trophy. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Flagler Schools Spelling Bee participants (from left): Lily Dotson, Pax Zwirn, Layla Verdote, Adalina Petkovsek, Koby Sanchez, Rose Eberhardinger, Torin Crist, Skye Soler, Anabelle Roscoe, Kali McClease, Nyasia Saleem, Cooper Room Brayden Dills, Sophia Roberto, Rilee Room, Eaint Maung and Sean Adrian Salvacion. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Spelling Bee champ Sean Adrian Salvacion with runner-up Rose Eberhardinger (left) and third-place speller Sophia Roberto. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Sean Adrian Salvacion holds up his trophy after winning the 2026 Flagler Schools Spelling Bee. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Spelling Bee winner Sean Adrian Salvacion with his dad, Adrian Salvacion. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Sophia Roberto, a sixth grader at Indian Trails Middle School, placed third at the 2026 Flagler Schools Spelling Bee. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Rose Eberhardinger, a seventh grader at Buddy Taylor Middle School, placed second at the 2026 Flagler Schools Spelling Bee. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Sean Adrian Salvacion holds up his trophy and his number. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Sean Adrian Salvacion matched his number by correctly spelling 12 words, including the practice round. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Sean Adrian Salvacion smiles after spelling his final word, "welterweight." Photo by Brent Woronoff
Sean Adrian Salvacion’s second word at the Flagler County Spelling Bee was probably his hardest.
Salvacion, a seventh grader at Imagine School at Town Center spelled “silhouette” correctly and 11 words in all, plus his practice-round word, to win Spelling Bee on Tuesday, Feb. 3, at the Buddy Taylor Middle School cafeteria.
Salvacion is from the Philippines and English is his second language. He took his time spelling words, drawing letters in the air and asking Pronouncer Dr. Chris Stefancik to repeat the words.
“Basically, if there's suffixes or affixes, I would try to connect them to the words. And I tried to airdraw just to make sure,” he said.
Salvacion said he’s been preparing for the Spelling Bee since he was knocked out early last year.
“I’ve been excited since last year,” he said.
Salvacion will represent Flagler County at the 82nd annual First Coast Regional Spelling Bee on Feb. 27 in Jacksonville.
He said he wasn’t sure on “silhouette.”
“That was kind of hard,” he said. “I had two options for that word. It was either the word I got correct, or the e and u interchanged.”
There were 17 spellers in the bee. After round 5, there were just three left: Salvacion, Indian Trails Middle School sixth grader Sophia Roberto and Buddy Taylor Middle School seventh grader Rose Eberhardinger.
Roberto misspelled “pyramid” in round 8 to place third. Eberhardinger misspelled “grandeur” in round 10. Salvacion then correctly spelled “vendetta” to finish the round. He then had to spell one more word correctly to win the championship. He calmly spelled “welterweight.”
After Flagler Schools Teaching and Learning Specialist Kristin Frank handed him the trophy, he didn’t seem to want to let it go.
His father, Andrian Salvacion, said he never saw Sean studying his words. He did all of his studying in school.
“I can focus more in school, especially since I have study hall,” he said. “My teacher recommended that I should use the Two Bee and the Three Bee (word study lists). The One Bee are kind of easy. I tried the Three Bee and it was kind of hard. But I still won, at the end of the day.”
Andrian said he was nervous for his son, especially during his long pauses.
“I was nervous for him, but my son was not nervous,” he said. “It was like how many minutes for that before he can answer, but he just wanted to make sure that he was correct.”
