The competition began this morning, but last night, spellers were in the same room as their prize -- the trophy handed to the winner of the Bee.
Spellers and their adults alike took pictures of the trophy, and in front of it.
Cecilia Guerrero (Speller 72), an Illinois seventh grader, said she'll keep the picture to herself -- unless she wins the competition.
"It's just to show how close I am to the trophy," she said.
Isra Ansari (Speller 65), an Illinois eighth grader, was taking the picture for a friend back home who had helped her study, but couldn't come to the Bee. Desiree Roby (Speller 134), a sixth grader from Mississippi, said being so close to the trophy was "really cool."
"I'm going to keep it and show it to all my friends," she said. "They'll scream and holler and just be excited."
Some adults saw the trophy as motivation. David Sandles, who teaches Osvaldo Sanchez (Speller 9), said he wanted the California sixth grader to have something to visualize as he studied. He plans to print out the picture and put it on his classroom wall.
Sarah Jamell took the picture for her son, Khaled Mohamed (Speller 111), a seventh grader from Maryland.
"That's the goal," she said.
But Sarah was quick to say that the Bee was about more than the trophy, too.
"That's the ultimate prize over there, but it's a symbol, of course," she said. "He's already earned that trophy in so many ways."