Meet Destiny Johnson: Scripps National Spelling Bee Finalist

The Scripps National Spelling Bee kicks off this weekend — with the finale set for July 8th in Florida. Newsy caught up with finalist Destiny Johnson to see how she's feeling ahead of the competition.

Destiny Johnson, Scripps National Spelling Bee Finalist: "I'm feeling excited, because I've never made it to the Nationals before. … I joined in third grade — I was an alternate in the district bee."

Daphne Johnson, Destiny's mother: "She just made it farther and farther until her sixth grade year was the first year that she won." 

Destiny says her biggest supporters are her coaches and parents. No surprise when spelling is a family tradition! 

Daphne Johnson: "I used to spell when I was little. My mother used to spell when she was little. And I just feel like she's really smiling down at this moment."

Beyond prepping for the bee, Destiny's hobbies include double Dutch, fashion, photography and music. 

"I love musicals. I like dancing, singing, rapping…" 

She some day hopes to meet actor, producer and writer Lin-Manuel Miranda. And so ahead of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, we challenged Destiny with our own little "pop culture spelling bee"...

 No surprise here — Destiny aced our mini-bee. She competes this weekend for the Scripps National Spelling Bee's virtual first rounds, and the final winners head to Florida next month.