Share ThisIt happened three years ago—in the critically-acclaimed major motion picture, Akeelah and the Bee. In real life there have been only three instances of co-champions—1950, 1957 and 1962.
Statistics
Number of Spellers | Age Range | Grade Range | School Type | Siblings | Family Ties
Four-Year Repeaters | Three-Year Repeaters | Two-Year Repeaters | Coaching
Number of Spellers: 293
| 150 boys (51%) | 143 girls (49%) |
This is the greatest
number of spellers in the history of the event. Of last year's 288
spellers, there were 135 boys (46.9%) and 153 girls (53.1%).
Age Range
| 3 nine-year-olds (1.2%) | 114 thirteen-year-olds (39%) |
| 13 ten-year-olds (4%) | 78 fourteen-year-olds (27%) |
| 27 eleven-year-olds (9%) | 1 fifteen-year-old (0.3%) |
| 57 twelve-year-olds (19.5%) |
This
year's age statistics are typical of previous years' age statistics.
Grade Range
| 1 third grader (0.3%) | 35 sixth graders (12%) |
| 6 fourth graders (2%) | 80 seventh graders (27.3%) |
| 24 fifth graders (8.2%) | 147 eighth graders (50.2%) |
This
year's grade statistics are typical of previous years' grade statistics.
School Type
| 186 public (63.5%) | 24 parochial (8.2%) |
| 39 private (13%) | 8 charter (3%) |
| 36 home (12.3%) |
Of last year's 288
spellers, 190 were public-schooled, 37 were private-schooled, 36 were
home-schooled, 18 were parochial-schooled, and seven were charter-schooled.
Siblings
Forty-four (44) spellers are only children. The remaining 249 spellers have 247 sisters and 224 brothers among them.
This year's siblings statistics are typical of previous years' siblings statistics.
Family Ties
Thirty (30) spellers have at least one relative (mother, brother, sister, aunt or cousin) who has competed in previous national finals. They are spellers 4, 37, 48, 52, 57, 90, 97, 98, 138, 153, 158, 159, 166, 178, 200, 206, 207, 213, 217, 221, 243, 246, 249, 256, 267, 275, 281, 282, 283 and 290.
This year's family ties statistics are typical of previous years' family ties statistics.
Four-Year Repeaters (4)
| 16: Josephine Kao | 110: Kavya Shivashankar |
| 97: Vaibhav S. Vavilala | 239: Keiko S. Bridwell |
Three-Year Repeaters (14)
Two-Year Repeaters (51)
Coaching
- Spellers with only family and/or friends as coaches: 228
- Spellers with teachers as coaches: 38
- Spellers who study alone: 7
- Spellers not responding: 20
- Of the 38 spellers who named teachers as coaches, 31 also indicated that they received coaching assistance from within the family unit. Only seven spellers indicated that a teacher was their sole source of coaching.
- Among the 69 spellers returning for the second, third, or fourth time, only five spellers cited teachers as coaches.
- Three 2008 championship finalists are among this year's spellers: Spellers 88, 110 and 139. These spellers cite coaching solely from parents, siblings and friends.