Hi everyone! We're so glad to be back with you for Bee Week this year.
The spellers are already enjoying the week, and starting the competition. We have 564 spellers with us this year. This morning, they took the Preliminaries Test, answering spelling and vocabulary questions. We'll welcome them this afternoon with a ceremony and a party.
But the fun has already begun, and some of the spellers have made their way on stage early. That's because Chipotle set up its own bee yesterday as the spellers arrived.
Spellers spelled words like high fructose corn syrup - not a Chipotle ingredient - and garlic, a Chipotle ingredient. If they got both sets of words right, they won a $20 gift certificate to the restaurant.
"It was really fun," said Bhavya Surapanemi, speller 61, who spelled "pork" correctly, among other things. "It was a more calm experience than the actual spelling bee."