At just eight years old, Willow Bend fourth-grader Alejandro Saenz Martinez is headed to the National Spanish Spelling Bee competition to be held next July. Martinez is the second student in Frenship’s history to make it to the national level.

Before his debut that landed him a spot in the nationals, Martinez competed against other Frenship elementary and middle school students in a district-wide Spanish spelling bee. Only eight of the 18 Frenship students advanced to the area competition hosted on November 2nd by Texas Tech University’s Sigma Delta Pi, a collegiate Hispanic Honor Society.

During that competition, Martinez went head to head against both elementary and middle school students from across the Lubbock area. Showing off his Spanish spelling skills, Martinez continued advancing through the intense competition and ultimately claimed the runner-up spot behind a Lubbock ISD middle school student.

"I am super proud of Alejandro for not only being one of our amazing 4th-grade dual language students but for his mental focus to stay the course throughout the competition," said Senon Cruz, Frenship's Bilingual and ESL Coordinator. 

He is now one of two area students who will advance to the national competition held in Denver, Colorado on July 9th-12th. In the meantime, the Willow Bend elementary student will continue to prepare for the competition and serve as a role model for his other dual-language peers.