CORTLAND — After winning the 21-WFMJ Regional Spelling Bee three years in a row, a Lakeview High School freshman is returning to Saturday’s regional bee in a new capacity.

Joey Constantine, 15, won the regional bee in sixth, seventh and eighth grade.

He has aged out of the competition, so Joey will return as a volunteer at the regional bee on Saturday at Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown. Nearly 70 students — all who won their school spelling bee — from Trumbull and Mahoning counties will compete.

Joey credits the support and help from his parents, Frank and Kathy, for his success over the years. Kathy has been his coach.

“I have a very good memory, which has helped. I have a photographic memory and can remember things I see. I remember the first time I saw a word and how I pronounced it. I was able to learn different words from websites. I have been competing in spelling bees since first grade,” Joey said.

He won his school spelling bee in third, fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades and advanced to the regional bee. There were no local bees when he was in fifth grade because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the spelling bees got easier for him the more he competed because he learned to spell more words through the years.

Kathy Constantine said she enjoyed being her son’s spelling coach.

“It seemed his base knowledge of the spelling of words grew each year,” she said.

Joey said he felt he got the hang of preparing for the spelling bee and how to be prepared for the national bee after being there for the first time in sixth grade.

“The national bee is really a big deal and gets lots of media coverage. It is a really big event and there are a lot of people. It was stressful my first year there. I had never experienced anything like it. There were a lot of activities planned for us,” he said.

Joey said each competitor is given a list of words to study for the national bee until further into the competition when off-list words are used. Kathy said the experience for Joey, as well as she and Frank, was incredible at the national event.

Joey said he will always have good memories of the national event and stays in contact with friends he made there who are from all over the world.

To prepare for the regional event, he would practice spelling words for an hour to 90 minutes each day and would practice two to three hours each day for the national bee.

VOLUNTEER AT BEE

This weekend, Joey will be a volunteer at the regional event.

Nena Perkins, coordinator of the 21-WFMJ Regional Spelling Bee, asked Joey if he was interested in helping at the local event.

“I and others will help Nena where she needs us,” he said, noting he will arrive at the event a couple of hours before it starts.

He said he would like to continue helping at the event each year during high school.

“The regional is a smaller event than the national bee, but you have to win it to get to the national. It can be stressful as you compete to make it there,” he said.

Joey said it will be much easier to work at the regional bee than compete in it.

“It was scary those (early) years. The older kids looked like adults to me. When I was in seventh and eighth grade and there were a lot of younger kids, I felt like I was leading the group. I felt that this was my final stretch,” he said. “Winning the regional bee was always a great feeling.”

Joey said he still remembers the words he spelled to win the regional bee. In sixth grade, it was bursary. In seventh grade, it was julienne and in eighth grade, it was aughts.

His mom said she remembers one year Joey was interviewed by a national media outlet after completing a round of spelling.

Because he went to the Scripps National Spelling Bee three times, when Joey is in college, he can apply to be an intern at Scripps Howard and work at the national bee.

If you go …

WHAT: 92nd annual 21-WFMJ Regional Spelling Bee

WHEN: 9 a.m. Saturday

WHERE: Stambaugh Auditorium, Fifth Avenue, Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Admission is free