Waynesboro student’s national spelling bee run ends before finals

The 90th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee is finally here and will take place at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center at the National Harbor in Maryland on Thursday.

For the second straight year, Erin Howard of Huntsville has advanced to the finals of the National Spelling Bee.

“It’s just a goal of mine, I never thought I’d actually be here because I always watch it on TV and it’s surreal”, Fatta said.

An impressive run but no championship for IN at this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee. Spellers could earn a possible 36 points. By noon, 30 spellers were eliminated for misspelling the words given them, with about 20 more kids waiting their turns.

Valerie Miller, a spokesman for the competition, said Edith has become a celebrity Jada Pinkett Smith.

“Correct”, always the favorite word of the competition, is what Sam Thomas heard right off the bat.

He correctly spelled “animism, ” and “requiem” Wednesday after completing the written test Tuesday.

Martius Bautista, 13, and Kieran McKinney, 12, both successfully spelled their words during the two oral rounds.

Last year’s longest-lasting Minnesotan was Max Meyer, a 14-year-old eighth-grader at Minnetonka Middle School East.

New Mexico Spelling Bee coordinator Karen Kehe told the Journal it’s very rare for a 9-year-old to win the contest, which includes third through eighth graders from around the state.

The finalists are expected to be announced today at 6 p.m. Miller said he’ll be there cheering on his friends.

“This is a great experience for him to be on stage”, Muralidharan said. “It was something we hoped for but never expected”, she said.

As part of the trip, the family has visited the National Cathedral, the Jefferson Memorial and Washington Nationals Stadium.