“Coriander.”

That was the word sixth-grader Max Mahaz spelled correctly to win the John Hopkins Spelling Bee.

The bee, which took place Jan. 29 in the school auditorium, included five scholars facing off during first period.

In an interview, Mahaz said he was fearful that he would not win. But then fellow sixth-grader Allison Huck missed “affiliation.”

“I’m really happy I won, I studied all morning and it really paid off for me,” he said.

Scholars prepared for the bee in language arts teacher Ramona Jones’ room after school for two days. They met with her to learn and study the words that could be part of the actual competition.

Jones said she was impressed with the scholars’ processing and learning the words so quickly.

“I am very proud of them,” she said. “We started really late this year, and it was a quick process and turnaround but all five of the students showed up on the first day so I’m really happy about that.”

Mahaz will compete Feb. 14 at the Scripps Regional Bee at University South Florida in Tampa against others from different schools.