SMYRNA — By correctly spelling the word “fabricate,” Teasley Elementary School fifth-grader Sreya Atmuri earned a trip to New York City to compete in the sixth annual Macy’s Spelling Bee.

Sreya, 10, competed against 49 children, ages 8 to 11, in Macy’s regional spelling bee on Aug. 27 at Town Center at Cobb mall in Kennesaw. On Sept. 24, she will compete in the national bee at Macy’s Herald Square in New York City.

It took Sreya 17 rounds to win the regional spelling bee. She admitted she does get nervous when trying to spell a difficult word such as “fabricate,” but tries to remember her training.

“I just try to stay calm,” she said. “I try to break it into parts and see if it has a root word, and if I’ve ever heard any part of it.”

Sreya said she studies words every day when she returns home from school and at night. Those words she doesn’t know, she looks them up in the dictionary. Spelling is simply “fun,” she said.

The most difficult word Sreya said she has ever had to spell was “glockenspiel” during the county level spelling bee. A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument, similar to a xylophone.

“The entire room at the spelling bee — hundreds of parents, you could hear say, ‘what?’” recalled Kate Strother, Teasley spelling bee coordinator, of that moment.

Strother was impressed that Sreya beat not just her fourth-grade peers, but fifth-graders as well during the school’s spelling bee last February, when Sreya was in the fourth grade.

“I think I was more nervous than her,” Sreya’s mother, Radha Atmuir, said of the regional spelling bee. “All of the contestants were very good.”

Sreya’s trip to New York City includes hotel accommodations and a year of online learning from Kaplan Smart Track, plus a $150 gift card from Scholastic.

The winner of the Macy’s Spelling Bee will win a California vacation for a family of four, including round-trip air travel, hotel accommodations and more provided by Radio Disney. In addition, the winner will earn a $5,000 Kaplan Tutoring Scholarship and a $500 Scholastic gift card.

“I am very proud of Sreya, not only for her great performance, but also for the initiative to enter Macy’s sixth annual Spelling Bee,” said Teasley Principal Leslie Mansfield. “She is a wonderful student and all of Teasley wishes her well as she goes to New York for the national competition.”