Her placard number turned out to be Paula Braun's final ranking — No. 1. The eighth-grader from Seton Catholic School in Peosta, Iowa, won the Telegraph Herald Spelling Bee with her final two words: "leprotic" and "silica." Her sister placed third in the competition which involved 27 students from the Dubuque area.
Aritra Banerjee, a fifth-grader at West Hill School in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, won the state spelling bee with the word "inevitability.” Aritra loves words and understands their importance. After winning, he told a local reporter, "Communication is one of the most important things in our world today.”
Angelina Holm, a sixth-grader from the Denver School of the Arts, trusted her knowledge of etymology to help her win the 78th Denver Post Colorado State Spelling Bee. The tournament went 40 rounds and the winning word was "helminthiasis." Angelina's strategy — “I just try to break down where a word comes from and how it is used.”
Erin Howard, a seventh-grader at Mountain Gap School in Huntsville, Alabama, is making her third trip to the national finals. She won the 91st Annual Alabama Spelling Bee, sponsored by Adventure Travel. She is such a believer in the benefits of the program that she presented information to the school board encouraging more students to participate.
Jonnen Messer withstood a grueling four-hour contest with 38 rounds of words to win the 35th annual European PTA Spelling Bee. His last two winning words were "stalactite" and "Istanbul." The fifth-grader at Ramstein Intermediate School at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, surprised himself in earlier rounds by correctly spelling some tricky words.
Simran Patibanda, an eighth-grader from Graham Park Middle School in Triangle, Virginia, is headed to the Scripps National Spelling Bee for the second time in three years. After finishing as runner-up last year, she worked hard to regain the top spot. She spelled “inter alia” to seal her victory at the 40th annual Prince William Regional Spelling Bee.
In Malheur County, Oregon, there is one top speller: Cadi Corn, a fifth-grader from Nyssa Elementary School. She was crowned winner over fellow students in grades one through eight after she correctly spelled "engulf." She won the trip to the national finals in addition to other prizes.
While wearing an event shirt with the slogan, "Bee Your Best Self," seventh-grader Nicolas Llorente was the best among his fellow spellers in the Greenburgh Central School District in White Plains, New York. This year, 24 students from Richard J. Bailey School and Woodlands Middle School competed for the trip to Washington, D.C.
Michael Goss, a student at St. Michael Catholic School in Crowley, Louisiana, will travel to Washington, D.C., for the third time this May after winning the Kiwanis Club of Lafayette/Arcadiana Spelling Bee. His winning word was "etymology."
Saachi Sharma, an eighth-grader from Duval County schools was crowned regional champion at the 74th annual First Coast Spelling Bee in Jacksonville, Florida. New sponsors, Jacksonville Sports Council and WJXT-TV, partnered for the event. Saachi correctly spelled "methodically" to win the title and advance to the national finals.