Isabel Messina stared down her word, "fomorian,” a mythical Irish monster, and slayed it to win the Anne Arundel County Public Schools spelling bee in Annapolis, Maryland. The eighth-grader from Wiley H. Bates Middle School competed against 24 other spellers in the 30th annual competition, a partnership of the schools and the 21st Century Education Foundation.
Neha Mothilal, a fifth-grader from Buchanan Elementary in East Baton Rouge parish in Louisiana, proved that age did not have to determine the outcome of the Louisiana Children's Discovery Center regional bee. She won in 19 rounds when she spelled "tendency."
Olivia Schwab, a sixth-grader from Murphy Junior High in Plainfield, Illinois, will proudly represent her school and her community in the national finals. She correctly spelled "relevant" to win the top prize of a trip to Washington, D.C., provided by sponsor, Grundy/Kendall County Regional Office of Education.
Srikar Chamarthi, an eighth-grader at Abell Junior High, in Midland, Texas, set a new record by winning his third Midland Reporter-Telegram Regional Spelling Bee. He spelled all his words correctly through 19 rounds including the last two, “effervescently” and “tyrannous.”
Eighth-grader Mattie Cull became a two-time champion of The Telegram Spelling Bee, in Newfoundland and Labrador province in Canada, after winning with "induction." The Cloud River Academy student also won in 2016 and worked hard to return this year.
Eighth-grader Amanda Medina credits reading and online spelling quiz games for her victory in the New Hampshire Union Leader spelling bee. The winning word was “caodaism." In addition to her spelling prowess, the Portsmouth Christian Academy student plays violin with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra.
After 30 rounds, Joseph Benson spelled his way to another trip to Washington, D.C. The eighth-grader correctly spelled "frivolous" to win the Jackson-Clay County Spelling Bee in Missouri. The competition was made possible by the support of the Mid-Continent and Kansas City public libraries.
Helena Thompson has earned a return trip to the national finals after winning, for the second year in a row, the Harnett County Spelling Bee in Lillington, North Carolina. The eighth-grader from Highland Middle School correctly spelled "perennial" and "rhetoric" to win.
Briana Joseph, an eighth-grader from Fairmont, got an assist from her own hand as she spelled out her winning word — "gopak" —to win the South Central Service Cooperative in Minnesota. She competed with 41 other spellers in the event that lasted nine rounds.
Congratulations to Hemingford High School seventh grader Arielle Stallings, Box Butte County Spelling 2018 Champion! She and the Bobcat Wordcats did HHS proud at Alliance Middle School on January 24, 2018, competing with a total of 21 spellers in front of a spellbound turnout of about 40 spectators. Arielle’s winning word was acacias, spelled correctly after her conquering rendition of labyrinthine.