Three Bay Area middle-schoolers are among the 243 competitors at this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, which started Tuesday in a Washington, D.C., suburb.
The field of contestants, ages 8 to 14, will be winnowed down through several rounds of spelling and giving definitions. The winner of Thursday’s final will get prizes including $52,500 in cash.
The Bay Area competitors qualified through an event sponsored by the San Ramon Valley Rotary Club. They are:
— Aren Lee, 13, an eighth-grader at King’s Academy in Sunnyvale. He competed last year, finishing 60th.
— Aiden Meng, 12, a sixth-grader at Orinda Intermediate.
— Rithvi Balajee, 12, a seventh-grader at Stratford School, Pleasanton.
After their first two rounds, all three had avoided elimination. Aren spelled ginglymus (a type of joint) and defined facile; Aiden spelled dragée and defined vendetta; and Rithvi spelled edamame and defined charcuterie.
Next up is a written spelling and vocabulary test, with the top 100 or so finishers advancing to Wednesday’s quarterfinals. Throughout the quarterfinals and semifinals, spellers will be eliminated at the microphone through oral spelling or vocabulary questions. About a dozen spellers advance to the finals.
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The bee is broadcast and streamed on channels and platforms owned by Scripps, a Cincinnati-based media company.
— Tuesday, May 27: Preliminary rounds streamed on Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More and spellingbee.com from 5 a.m. to 1:40 p.m. PDT.
— Wednesday, May 28: Quarterfinals streamed on Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More and spellingbee.com from 5 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. Semifinals streamed on Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More and spellingbee.com from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Semifinals broadcast on ION on tape-delay from 5-7 p.m.
— Thursday, May 29: Finals broadcast on ION from 5-7 p.m.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
