Simone Kaplan, Speller 60 and a Florida sixth grader, finished far better than her 189th-place finish in 2017.
She misspelled "carmagnole," a street dance in a meandering course to the tune of a lively song popular at the time of the French Revolution.
Simone got high fives and hugs as she left the stage.
Simone said she was grateful that she has gotten as far as she did. How was she feeling?
“The best way to describe it is surreal,” she said. “For a while I was thinking, Is this a dream? Am I still asleep?”
Simone has worn bee-adorned clothing all week, found by her mother and made by a seamstress friend, Mary Gordon. It's mostly for the spelling bee, but she also thinks bees are cute.
Simone loves reading. Spelling, she said, helps her learn about the diversity of the English language.