Bee Week Guide 2014

Competition Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
About Our Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Information about Our
Supporters and Sponsors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Contest Rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Competition Flow Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Twenty Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Meet the Spellebrities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Champions and Their Winning Words. . . . . . . . . . . .16
Prizes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Spellers and Sponsors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Leadership and Year-Round Staff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Ofcials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Bee Week Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM SPELLING BEE?
Whats it like to spell onstage at the
Scripps National Spelling Bee?
With a QR reader, use this code to
watch the video that inspired the
cover of this Bee Week Guide.
The word bee, as used in spelling bee, is one of those language puzzles that has never been
satisfactorily accounted for. A fairly old and widely used word, it refers to a community social
gathering at which friends and neighbors join together in a single activity (sewing, quilting, barn
raising, etc.) usually to help one person or family. The earliest known example in print is a spinning
bee in 1769. Other early occurrences are husking bee (1816), apple bee (1827), and logging bee (1836).
Spelling bee is apparently an American term. It rst appeared in print in 1875, but it seems certain that the term
was used orally for several years before that.
Those who used the word, including most early students of language, assumed that it was the same word as
referred to the insect. They thought that this particular meaning had probably been inspired by the obvious
similarity between these human gatherings and the industrious, social nature of a beehive. But in recent years
scholars have rejected this explanation, suggesting instead that this bee is a completely different word. One
possibility is that it comes from the Middle English word bene, which means a prayer or a favor (and is related
to the more familiar word boon). In England, a dialect form of this word, been or bean, referred to voluntary
help given by neighbors toward the accomplishment of a particular task (Websters Third New International
Dictionary). Bee may simply be a shortened form of been, but no one is entirely certain.
/ScrippsNationalSpellingBee /ScrippsBee #spellingbee /ScrippsBee
/ScrippsNationalSpellingBee #scrippsbee /ScrippsBee
TABLE OF CONTENTS
COMPETITION SCHEDULE
TUESDAY, MAY 27
Preliminaries Test
8:00 a.m. 12:30 p.m. Chesapeake F
All spellers will participate in this computer-based
test at their individual test appointment times.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 28
Preliminaries: Round Two Live on ESPN3
8:00 11:45 a.m. Maryland Ballroom
Spellers 1 through 140 spell onstage between 8:00 and 9:45 a.m.
Spellers 141 through 281 spell onstage between 10:00 and 11:45 a.m.
Preliminaries: Round Three Live on ESPN3
1:15 4:45 p.m. Maryland Ballroom
Spellers 1 through 140 spell onstage between 1:15 and 2:45 p.m.
Spellers 141 through 281 spell onstage between 3:15 and 4:45 p.m.
Announcement of Seminalists: Live on ESPN3
Approximately 5:00 p.m. Maryland Ballroom
Seminals Test
7:00 7:45 p.m. Chesapeake G
All Seminalist spellers will participate in this computer-based test.
THURSDAY, MAY 29
Seminals: Live on ESPN2
10:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. Maryland Ballroom
Championship Finals: Live on ESPN
8:00 10:00 p.m. Maryland Ballroom
2014 SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE 1
2 2014 SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE
ABOUT OUR PROGRAM
PURPOSE
Our purpose is to help students improve their spelling, increase
their vocabularies, learn concepts and develop correct English
usage that will help them all their lives.
To better achieve this purpose, in 2013 the evaluation of
vocabulary knowledge was formally incorporated as an
element of the National Finals. The change was well received
and is incorporated into all levels of the Bee this year.
LOCAL SPELLING BEE SPONSORS
Each year we grant a limited number of local spelling bee
sponsorships to media organizations, universities, nonprots
and other community leaders. Most organizations sponsoring
local spelling bees are not owned by The E.W. Scripps Company.
In fact, only 13 sponsorships were awarded to Scripps-owned
television stations and newspapers this year.
Local sponsors conduct community spelling bee programs in
cooperation with teachers and administrators at public, private,
parochial, charter, virtual and home schools. The champion of
each sponsors program qualies for participation in the Scripps
National Spelling Bee.
STUDENTS
More than 11 million students participated in this years
Scripps National Spelling Bee at one level or another. To
prepare, students used study materials created by spelling
bee staff and Merriam-Webster using our ofcial dictionary:
Websters Third New International Dictionary and its
addenda section, copyright 2002.
All of the spellers here have advanced to the Scripps National
Spelling Bee by winning a series of spelling bees as outlined by
their local spelling bee sponsors. In general terms, the program
is open to students who are 15 years old or younger, have not
passed beyond eighth grade and attend schools ofcially
enrolled with our program for the current academic year.
See Rule 1 on page 4 for full eligibility requirements.
HISTORY
This is the 87th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee. The
National Spelling Bee started in 1925 with nine contestants.
Frank Neuhauser of Louisville, Kentucky correctly spelled
gladiolus to win the inaugural Bee.
The E.W. Scripps Company took ownership in 1941 and, after not
holding the competition for three years during World War II, has
managed the Bee continuously since 1946.
The Bee declared co-champions in 1950, 1957 and 1962. Of the
89 champions, 47 have been girls and 42 have been boys. See
pages 16 and 17 for a complete list of champions and their
winning words.
AN AMERICAN INSTITUTION
While the Scripps National Spelling Bee has been around for
a long time, its more than a contest for children. It is a classic
element of Americana.
Since 1925, participating in a spelling bee has been part of the
collective American experience even immortalized in a
Norman Rockwell lithograph. As millions have gone to the front
of a classroom or taken the stage to spell a word, it has become
an iconic symbol of education, progress, and the opportunity for
future generations to be more enriched than the previous.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is the nations largest and longest-running educational program.
Local spelling bees take place in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam,
Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Department of Defense Schools in Europe. It also is
administered in cooperation with local spelling bee sponsors from seven other countries: the
Bahamas, Canada, China, Ghana, Jamaica, Japan and South Korea. We are administered on a
not-for-prot basis by The E.W. Scripps Company in cooperation with local spelling bee sponsors
SCHOOLS
Every fall, thousands of schools enroll in our program.
Throughout the fall and winter, schools conduct spelling
bees at the classroom, grade and school level to choose
their representatives for the next level of competition.
Students may further compete
in district, county or regional
spelling bees before earning
the right to represent
their communities at
the Scripps National
Spelling Bee.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is only possible through the support
of our sponsors and supporters.
For the rst time this year, Microsoft joined us as the Ofcial Technology
Champion of the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
This means that the nations largest and longest-running educational
program is collaborating with the worlds largest software company.
Microsoft is deeply committed to supporting educators and educational
programs. In fact, since 2003, Microsoft has partnered with educators to
impact more than 207 million students in 119 countries.
And our local sponsors are the lifeblood of the Bee. There are more than 270 organizations that administer the local
spelling bees. All of our local sponsors are listed in the Spellers and Sponsors section, which starts on page 19.
PLEASE JOIN US IN THANKING ALL OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS!
THE COLLABORATION INCLUDES:
A Windows 8 spelling app for teachers and students.
Bing for Schools lesson plans focused on spelling.
Spelling-related surprises for certain queries using Bing for Schools.
Bing for Schools Word of the Day available on the Bees Facebook page.
Microsoft onsite experiences during Bee Week.
Microsoft joins a growing number of companies that show their enthusiasm for education by supporting the
Bee, including:
THANK YOU
RULE 1: ELIGIBILITY
(1) The speller must not previously have been declared champion
of the Bee.
(2) The speller must attend a school that is ofcially enrolled
with the Bee.
(3) The speller must not have passed beyond the eighth grade on
or before February 1, 2014.
(4) The speller must not have repeated any grade for the purpose
of extending spelling bee eligibility. If the speller has repeated
any grade, the speller must notify the Bee of the circumstances
of grade repetition by March 31, 2014; and the Bee will, in its sole
discretion, determine the spellers eligibility status on or before
April 30, 2014.
(5) The speller or the spellers parent, legal guardian or
school ofcial acting on the spellers behalf must not have
declared to another entity an academic classication higher
than eighth grade for any purpose including high school
graduation equivalency or prociency examinations and/or
examinations such as the PSAT, SAT or ACT.
(6) The speller must not have earned the legal equivalent of a
high school diploma.
(7) The speller must not have completed nor ever been enrolled
in more than six high school-level courses or two college-level
courses on or before April 30, 2014.
(8) The speller must not bypass or circumvent normal school
activity to study for spelling bees. The Bee denes normal
school activity as adherence to at least four courses of study
other than language arts, spelling, Latin, Greek, vocabulary
and etymology for at least four hours per weekday for 34 of
the 38 weeks between August 27, 2013, and May 18, 2014.
(9) The speller must not have reached the age of 15 on or before
August 31, 2013.
(10) The speller must have been declared a champion of a nal
local spelling bee on or after February 1, 2014.
(11) The speller must not have been disqualied at any level of
a sponsors spelling bee program between June 2013 and April
2014. Further, if the speller becomes disqualied at any level of a
sponsors spelling bee program before April 2014, the speller will
be ineligible to compete in the Bee and may not seek
advancement in the Bee through another sponsor and/or
enrollment in another school.
(12) The speller must not have any rst-, second- or third-degree
relatives (i.e. sibling, child, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece,
nephew, half-sibling, rst cousin or great grandchild) who
are current employees of The E.W. Scripps Company.
(13) The speller, upon qualifying for the Bee, must submit a
completed online Champion Prole form, a signed Appearance
Consent and Release Form and a hard or electronic copy of a
photo to the Bee. The speller will notify the Bee, at least 24 hours
prior to the rst day of competition, if any of the statements
made on the Certication of Eligibility Form are no longer true or
require updating. The spellers sponsor will provide access to the
necessary forms.
The Bee may disqualify prior to or during competition any
speller who is not in compliance with any of the above Eligibility
Requirements; and it may at any time between the conclusion
of the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee and April 30, 2015
require any speller who is found to have not been in compliance
with any of the Eligibility Requirements to forfeit any prizes,
rank, and other benets accorded to the speller as a result of
participation in the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
RULE 2: PRELIMINARIES FORMAT
The Preliminaries is the rst of three distinct segments of the
competition: Preliminaries, Seminals and Championship Finals.
The Preliminaries consists of a test (Preliminaries Test)
delivered by computer on Tuesday, May 27 and two rounds of
oral spelling onstage on Wednesday, May 28. Spellers may earn
up to 36 points during the Preliminaries: up to 30 points on the
Preliminaries Test, three points for correctly spelling in Round
Two and three points for correctly spelling in Round Three.
Spellers must report to the Chesapeake F Room in the Gaylord
National Resort and Convention Center for the Preliminaries Test
at their individual appointment times. Individual test appointment
times are claimed by spellers prior to Bee Week 2014 through the
online Champion Prole Form available to spellers who log into
spellingbee.com.
The Preliminaries Test has four sections:
1. In Section A, the speller will spell 24 words using a computer
keyboard. Only 12 of the 24 spellings will count toward the spellers
Preliminaries score one point per each correctly spelled score
word. The 12 spelling words that count toward the spellers
CONTEST RULES OF THE 2014
SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE
Preliminaries score will be labeled score spelling words by
Bee ofcials prior to May 27, but score spelling word status will
not be apparent to a speller while taking the test. Score spelling
words are the same for all spellers. This part of the test will be
labeled as Round One.
2. In Section B, the speller will respond to 24 multiple-choice
vocabulary questions. Only 12 of the 24 vocabulary responses will
count toward the spellers Preliminaries score one point per
each correctly answered vocabulary question. The 12 vocabulary
questions that count toward the spellers Preliminaries score will
be labeled score vocabulary questions by Bee ofcials prior to
May 27. Score vocabulary questions are the same for all spellers.
This part of the test will also be labeled as Round One.
3. In Section C, the speller will respond to one multiple-choice
vocabulary question that will be labeled as a Round Two
vocabulary question and, if correctly answered, count three
points toward the spellers Preliminaries score. The spellers
Round Two vocabulary question will be unique to the speller.
4. In Section D, the speller will respond to one multiple-choice
vocabulary question that will be labeled as a Round Three
points toward the spellers Preliminaries score. The spellers
Round Three vocabulary question will be unique to the speller.
During the afternoon of Wednesday, May 28 the Bee will publicly
identify the 12 score spelling words and the 12 score vocabulary
questions on spellingbee.com; also, the Bee will email individual
speller Preliminaries Test score reports to parents and spellers.
Eliminations: There are no immediate eliminations for misspelling
or providing an incorrect answer in the Preliminaries Test. Upon
incorrectly spelling a word in Round Two or Three, the speller is
eliminated from the competition. Spellers eliminated during Round
Two are tied for the same place. Spellers eliminated during Round
Three are tied for the same place. Immediately after Round Three
a maximum of 50 standard is applied to remaining spellers
scores accrued during the Preliminaries. Spellers scores are
plotted on a chart. Beginning at 36 on the chart, spellers at each
consecutive scoring level are added until a sum of no more than 50
spellers has been attained. All remaining spellers are eliminated.
All spellers eliminated after Round Three and before the start of
the Seminals are tied for the same place.
RULE 3: SEMIFINALS FORMAT
The Seminals is the second of three distinct segments of the
competition: Preliminaries, Seminals and Championship Finals.
The Seminals consists of a test (Seminals Test) delivered by
computer on Wednesday evening, May 28 and two rounds of oral
spelling onstage on Thursday, May 29. Spellers may earn up to 36
points during the Seminals: up to 30 points on the Seminals
Test, three points for correctly spelling in Round Five and three
points for correctly spelling in Round Six.
Spellers must report to Chesapeake Room G in the Gaylord
National Resort and Convention Center for the Seminals Test on
Wednesday, May 28 at 7: 00 p.m. EDT.
The Seminals Test has four sections:
1. In Section A, the speller will spell 12 words using a computer
keyboard. All 12 spellings count toward the spellers Seminals
score and will be labeled score spelling words by Bee ofcials
prior to May 27. Score spelling words are the same for all
spellers. This part of the test will be labeled as Round Four.
2. In Section B, the speller will respond to 12 multiple-choice
vocabulary questions. All 12 vocabulary responses will count
toward the spellers Seminals score and will be labeled score
vocabulary questions by Bee ofcials prior to May 27. Score
vocabulary questions are the same for all spellers. This part of
the test will also be labeled as Round Four.
3. In Section C, the speller will respond to one multiple-choice
vocabulary question that will be labeled as a Round Five
points toward the spellers Seminals score. The spellers
Round Five vocabulary question will be unique to the speller.
4. In Section D, the speller will respond to one multiple-choice
vocabulary question that will be labeled as a Round Six
points toward the spellers Seminals score. The spellers
Round Six vocabulary question will be unique to the speller.
During the morning of Thursday, May 29 the Bee will publicly
identify the 12 score spelling words and the 12 score vocabulary
questions on spellingbee.com; also, the Bee will email individual
speller Seminals Test score reports to Seminalist spellers and
their parents.
Eliminations: There are no immediate eliminations for misspelling
or providing an incorrect answer in the Seminals Test. Upon
incorrectly spelling a word in Round Five or Six, the speller is
eliminated from the competition. Spellers eliminated during Round
Five are tied for the same place. Spellers eliminated during Round
Six are tied for the same place. Immediately after Round Six a
maximum of 12 standard is applied to remaining spellers scores
accrued during the Preliminaries and Seminals. Spellers scores
are plotted on a chart. Beginning at 72 on the chart, spellers at
each consecutive scoring level are added until a sum of no more
than 12 spellers has been attained. All remaining spellers are
eliminated unless, in the course of applying the maximum of 12
standard, it appears that fewer than nine spellers will qualify for
the Championship Finals.
In this circumstance, spellers at the next consecutive scoring
level (or levels) may be named as Championship Finalists if, in sole
determination of Bee ofcials, there is sufcient time and word list
content to accommodate additional spellers in the Championship
Finals. All spellers eliminated after Round Six and before the start
of the Championship Finals are tied for the same place.
RULE 4: CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
FORMAT
The Championship Finals is the third of three distinct segments
of the competition: Preliminaries, Seminals and Championship
Finals.
The Championship Finals consist of rounds of oral spelling
beginning with Round Seven and continuing until a champion is
declared (or co- champions are declared).
All spellers who have not been eliminated from the competition
spell one word in each round. Upon incorrectly spelling a word,
the speller is eliminated from the competition except as provided
under End-of-Bee Procedure herein. All spellers eliminated in
the same round are tied for the same place.
Championship Words and Provision for Declaration of
Co-Champions: At the beginning of any round in which either
two or three spellers remain, the pronouncer will move to the
25-word championship section of the word list. If a champion
does not emerge in the course of administering these nal 25
words, the remaining spellers will be declared co-champions.
In the event that a round beginning with more than either two
or three spellers ends with only one speller to begin the next
and perhaps nal round, the pronouncer will not move to the
championship section at that point in the competition.
End-of-Bee Procedure: If all spellers in a round misspell, all
remain in the competition and a new round begins with the
spellers spelling in their original order. If only one speller in a
round spells correctly in a round, a new one-word round begins
and the speller is given an opportunity to spell the next word on
the list (anticipated winning word). If the speller succeeds in
correctly spelling the anticipated winning word in this one-word
round, the speller is declared the champion. If the speller misspells
the anticipated winning word in a one-word round, a new round
begins with all the spellers who spelled correctly and incorrectly
in the previous round: these spellers spell in their original order.
RULE 5: OFFICIAL DICTIONARY AND
SOURCE OF WORDS
Websters Third New International Dictionary and its addenda
section, copyright 2002, Merriam-Webster, (Websters Third)
is the nal authority and sole source for the spelling of words;
the primary source used to craft the pronunciations, denitions,
and language origins for the Bee; and the only printed authority
consulted by ofcials, as well as the sole source used during the
Bee to verify the information in our prepared lists. If more than
one spelling is listed for a word, any of these spellings will be
accepted as correct if the following three criteria are met: (1) the
pronunciations are identical, (2) the denitions are identical, and
(3) the words are identied as being variants of each other.
Spellings having temporal labels (such as archaic, obsolete),
stylistic labels (such as substand, nonstand) or regional labels
(such as North, Midland, Irish) which differ from main entry
spellings not having these status labels will not be accepted as
correct.
RULE 6: TIME CONSTRAINTS
During the Preliminaries and Seminals Tests: Spellers are
subject to a 45-minute time limit for taking the test, and can
view a 45-minute countdown clock on screen as they take the
test. If the 45-minute time period expires and the speller has not
submitted the test, the test application will close and the spellers
responses on record at that time will be scored by Bee ofcials.
During oral spelling rounds in the Preliminaries, Seminals
and Championship Finals: The spellers time at the microphone
has a limit of 2 minutes. Time begins when the pronouncer rst
pronounces the word. For the rst 1 minute and 15 seconds, the
speller will have the benet of viewing a monitor displaying a
trafc light in green light mode. After 1 minute and 15 seconds,
the monitor will show the trafc light graphic in yellow light
mode and will also show the time clock as it counts down to the
30-second mark. At the 30-second mark, the monitor will show
the trafc light graphic in red light mode and will also show a
countdown of the remaining 30 seconds. The judges and
pronouncer will not communicate with the speller during the nal
30 seconds (red light mode). The judges will disqualify any speller
who does not provide a complete spelling before the expiration of
time (0 seconds in red light mode). If the judges and pronouncer
need to discuss a competition-related matter while a speller is
contemplating a word, they may pause the time clock, and they
will inform the speller when they pause and resume the time clock.
RULE 7: SPECIAL NEEDS
The Bee strives to provide accommodation for spellers who have
diagnosed medical conditions. All requests for accommodation
of special needs should be directed in writing to the director of
the Bee before May 1, 2014. The judges have discretionary power
to amend spelling requirements on a case-by-case basis for
spellers with diagnosed medical conditions.
Continued from previous page
sole discretion, merit holding the spellers word in reserve and
offering it to the speller after all other spellers in the round have
spelled and before the close of the round; (2) who engages in
unsportsmanlike conduct; (3) who, in the process of retracing a
spelling, alters the letters or sequence of letters from those rst
uttered; or (4) who, in the process of spelling, utters unintelligible
or nonsense sounds.
Speller activities that do not merit disqualication: The judges
may not disqualify a speller (1) for failing to pronounce the word
either before or after spelling it, (2) for asking a question, or
(3) for noting or failing to note the capitalization of a word, the
presence of a diacritical mark, or the presence of a hyphen or
other form or punctuation.
RULE 10: SPELLERS ROLE
The speller makes an effort to face the judges and pronounce
the word for the judges before spelling it and after spelling it.
The speller while facing the judges makes an effort to utter each
letter distinctly and with sufcient volume to be understood by
the judge. The speller may ask the pronouncer to say the word
again, dene it, use it in a sentence, provide the part of speech,
provide the language(s) of origin and/or provide an alternate
pronunciation or pronunciations. The speller may also ask root
word questions that meet the specications delineated in Rule 8.
Misunderstandings: The speller is responsible for any
misunderstanding of the word unless (1) the pronouncer never
provided a correct pronunciation; (2) the pronouncer provided
incorrect information regarding the denition, part of speech, or
language of origin; or (3) the speller correctly spelled a homonym
of the word and the pronouncer failed to either offer a denition
or distinguish the homonyms.
RULE 8: PRONOUNCERS ROLE
The pronouncer strives to pronounce words according to the
diacritical markings in Websters Third.
Homonyms: If a word has one or more homonyms, the pronouncer
indicates which word is to be spelled by dening the word.
Spellers requests: In oral competition the pronouncer responds
only to the spellers requests for repetition of the words
pronunciation, a denition, sentence, part of speech, language(s)
of origin and alternate pronunciation(s). When presented with
requests for alternate pronunciations, the pronouncer or
associate pronouncer checks for alternate pronunciations in
Websters Third. If the speller wishes to ask if the dictionary lists
a specic root word as the root of the word to be spelled, the
speller must specify a pronunciation of the root (not a spelling),
its language and its denition. The pronouncer will grant all such
requests as long as they are in accordance with time constraints
outlined in Rule 6.
Pronouncers sense of helpfulness: The pronouncer may offer
word information without the speller having requested the
information if the pronouncer senses that the information is
helpful and the information appears in the 2014 Scripps National
Spelling Bee word list or Websters Third.
RULE 9: JUDGES ROLE
The judges listen carefully, determine whether or not words
are spelled correctly and uphold the rules. The decisions of the
judges are nal.
Misunderstandings: The judges will not respond to the spellers
question(s) about the word and its pronunciation but, if the judges
sense that the speller has misunderstood the word, the judges
will direct the speller and pronouncer to interact until they are
satised that reasonable attempts have been made to assist the
speller in understanding the word within the time constraints
outlined in Rule 6. It is sometimes impossible to detect a
misunderstanding until a spelling error has been made, and the
judges are not responsible for the spellers misunderstanding.
Pronouncer Errors: The judges compare the pronouncers
pronunciation with the diacritical markings in the word list. If the
judges feel that the pronouncers pronunciation does not match
the pronunciation specied in the diacritical markings, the judges
will direct the pronouncer to correct the error as soon as it is
detected.
Disqualications for reasons other than clear misspelling: The
judges will disqualify a speller (1) who does not approach the
microphone when it is the spellers time to receive the word
unless there are extenuating circumstances that, in the judges
2014 SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE 9 8 2014 SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE
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TWENTY QUESTIONS
1. DIDNT SHE SPELL THAT WORD CORRECTLY?
THATS HOW MY DICTIONARY SPELLS IT.
She didnt spell the word the way its spelled in the Bees ofcial dictionary,
Websters Third New International Dictionary and its addenda section, copyright
2002, Merriam-Webster (Websters Third). Bee rules state that Websters Third is the
nal authority for the spelling of words.
2. WHERE DOES DR. BAILLY GET THE WORDS?
The individuals Bee ofcials and special contributors who collaborate to
produce the word list nd the words in the course of going about their lives, reading
books and traveling. Then they conrm the words presence in Websters Third.
Occasionally, we hear theories that the Bee strategically recycles words from
previous lists or creates special themes for its word lists. Lets just say that we
nd these theories amusing.
3. DR. BAILLY MISPRONOUNCED THE WORD.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
What Dr. Bailly did was pronounce the word according to the diacritical markings in
Websters Third. Diacritical markings are symbols such as and that you see in a
dictionary. If he didnt pronounce it the way you expected it to be pronounced, its
because your pronunciation wasnt in the dictionary, and the pronouncer is bound by
the rules to pronounce only what is listed in the dictionary. Its also important to note
that the legion of Bee ofcials in the front of the ballroom closely listen to Dr. Bailly
and immediately alert him to make an on-the-spot correction in the event of an error.
4. WHY DOES THE BEE ASK SO MANY FOREIGN
WORDS?
Most words in the English language are words that we borrowed from other
languages. We borrowed them, used them and now call them our own.
5. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A SPELLER MISSPELLS
ONSTAGE?
The judges bell will ring, the pronouncer will offer the correct spelling, and the
speller will exit in the direction of the sofas located stage right. One or both of the
spellers parents will meet the speller at the sofas and lead the speller from the
stage area.
6. WHAT HAPPENS IF EVERY SPELLER IN A
ROUND MISSPELLS?
Every speller who misspelled in the round is reinstated to the competition.
A new round begins, and they spell in their original order.
7. WHAT HAPPENS IF THE SPELLER CORRECTLY
SPELLS A HOMONYM OF THE WORD?
The speller is out of luck unless Dr. Bailly failed to say that the word is a homonym
or did not provide a denition of the word.
8. WHAT ARE THE TIME LIMITS?
Both the Preliminaries and Seminals computer-based tests have a 45-minute
limit. During all rounds of onstage spelling, spellers have a limit of two minutes.
9. WHY DOES THE PRONOUNCER GIVE A LOT OF
INFORMATION TO SOME SPELLERS AND VERY
LITTLE INFORMATION TO OTHERS?
Some words have multiple pronunciations, long denitions and complex origins. Other words have only one pronunciation, a brief
denition and a simple origin. Heres the interesting part: there is no correlation between the volume of information and the spelling
difculty level.
Also, some spellers dont ask for information, while others ask multiple questions. The rules give Dr. Bailly discretion to offer
information (as long as its in the word list or Websters Third) if he feels that it would be helpful to the speller, or if he has a
sentence that he thinks is funny.
10. WHAT IF THE SPELLER DOESNT UNDERSTAND THE WORD?
The rules say its the spellers responsibility to understand the word. If he doesnt understand the word, misspelling is likely.
Bee ofcials are not aware of a problem unless the speller:
1) says I dont understand,
2) distinctly mispronounces the word while facing the judges, or
3) delivers an Oscar-worthy interpretation of confusion.
If the ofcials detect a lack of understanding, they will do all that they can within the limits of the rules to help the speller achieve
an understanding of the word.
11. HOW MANY ROUNDS WILL THERE BE?
The Preliminaries and Seminals are each three rounds with Rounds One and Four being computer-based tests. The Championship
Finals begins with Round Seven but we simply dont know how many rounds it will take to determine a Champion. It all depends on
how many spellers misspell in each round.
12. WHAT HAPPENS IF THE BEE RUNS OUT OF WORDS?
Thats not a signicant concern of Bee ofcials, as the list contains enough words for us to conduct the Bee through dawn on
Friday morning.
13. WHY AT THE END OF THE BEE DOES THE SCREEN COUNT DOWN FROM 25
AFTER EACH SPELLER SPELLS? WHAT HAPPENS IF IT REACHES ZERO?
The screen counts down from 25 to indicate that the pronouncer is offering words from the 25-word Championship Words section of
the list. If a champion is not determined in the course of administering these nal 25 words, Co-Champions will be declared.
14. WHY DIDNT THE CHAMPION HAVE TO CORRECT THE SPELLING OF THE
OTHER SPELLER ONSTAGE?
The rule about correcting the other spellers spelling went away in 1991. Now, in order to be declared Champion, you must be the only
speller to spell correctly in a round; plus, in the next round a one-word, one-person round you must spell correctly.
15. WHEN WILL THE SPELLERS EVER SEE OR USE THESE WORDS AGAIN?
Maybe never. And thats ne by us. Why? Because the spellers you see onstage are the crme de la crme the best from a eld of
more than 11 million students. Of course we have to give these brilliant kids such difcult words! What really matters are the hundreds
of important, useful words that they and the 11 million others learned and spelled prior to this competition words they will denitely
see and use again such as philanthropy, imperative and amenable. As for those incredibly difcult words, theyre out there in great
works of literature, guide books, high school and college textbooks and other great places. Were proud to put the spotlight on these
rare and important gems of the English language.
16. HOW DOES THE BEE DECIDE WHO MAKES IT TO THE SEMIFINALS?
Lets suppose that 225 spellers remain in the Bee at the end of Round Three. Each of the 225 spellers has a Preliminaries score
points earned in the Preliminaries Test and Rounds Two and Three. The highest possible Preliminaries score a speller can earn is 36.
Now lets suppose that the scoring distribution looks like this:
No more than 50 spellers will make it to the Seminals. In this example, the Seminals scoring threshold is 32. All spellers who
achieved Preliminaries scores of at least 32 in this sample case, its 44 spellers qualify for the Seminals.
17. HOW MANY SPELLERS USUALLY QUALIFY FOR THE SEMIFINALS?
Looking over the past ve Bees, 42 spellers qualied for the Seminals in 2013. In 2012, it was 50; 2011: 41; 2010: 48; and 2009: 41.
Continued from previous page

36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
The remainder of this sample scoring distribution table not shown.
PRELIMINARIES SCORE NUMBER OF SPELLERS
ACHIEVING THIS SCORE
CUMULATIVE NUMBER OF SPELLERS
AT OR ABOVE THIS SCORING LEVEL

2
5
13
25
44
62
85
102

2
3
8
12
19
18
23
17
It is anticipated that no more than 12 spellers will make it to the Championship Finals. In this example, the Championship Finals scoring
threshold is 65. All spellers who achieved a cumulative Preliminaries and Seminals score of at least 65 in this sample case, its 11
spellers qualify for the Championship Finals.
19. HOW MANY SPELLERS USUALLY QUALIFY FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS?
Looking back over the past ve Bees, 11 spellers qualied in 2013. In 2012, it was 9; 2011: 13; 2010: 8; and 2009: 11.
20. HOW DOES THE BEE RANK SPELLERS AS THEY EXIT THE COMPETITION?
Here is a summary:
18. HOW DOES THE BEE DECIDE WHO MAKES IT TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS?
This formula is similar to the one used for the Seminals. Lets suppose that 28 spellers remain in the Bee at the end of Round Six. Each
of the 28 spellers has a Preliminaries score points earned in the Preliminaries Test and Rounds Two and Three; also, a Seminals
score points earned in the Seminals Test and Rounds Five and Six. Immediately after Round Six, a spellers Preliminaries score and
Seminals score are added together. The highest possible cumulative Preliminaries and Seminals score a speller can earn is 72. Now
lets suppose that the scoring distribution for the 28 spellers looks like this:
NUMBER OF SPELLERS
ACHIEVING THIS SCORE
CUMULATIVE NUMBER OF SPELLERS
AT OR ABOVE THIS SCORING LEVEL
The remainder of this sample scoring distribution table not shown.

72
71
70
69
68
67
66
65
64
63
62

0
1
2
4
8
10
11
11
13
14
19

0
1
1
2
4
2
1
0
2
1
5
CUMULATIVE PRELIMINARIES
AND SEMIFINALS SCORE
TIMING OF COMPETITION EXIT RANK
Misspell in Round Two
Misspell in Round Three
In Bee at the end of Round Three but do not
qualify for the Seminals
Misspell in Round Five
Misspell in Round Six
In Bee at the end of Round Six but do not qualify
for the Championship Finals
Misspell and are eliminated during the
Championship Finals
number of spellers in Bee at the end of Round Two + 1
number of spellers in Bee at the end of Round Three + 1
number of Seminalists + 1
number of spellers in Bee at the end of Round Five + 1
number of spellers in Bee at the end of Round Six + 1
number of Championship Finalists + 1
number of spellers spelling in the round occurring immediately
after the round in which speller was eliminated + 1
MEET THE SPELLEBRITIES
SPELLEBRITY
noun: a person renowned for the ability to spell
difcult words under pressure, bright lights and
the adoring gaze of millions.
Ask for my autograph, because Im a
SPELLERS BY THE NUMBERS
Grade
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Total
1
1
2
18
41
84
134
Percent
0.4%
0.4%
0.7%
6.4%
14.6%
29.8%
47.7%
Age
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Total
1
3
7
26
55
98
90
1
Percent
0.4%
1.1%
2.5%
9.3%
19.5%
34.8%
32.0%
0.4%
School Type
Public
Private
Parochial
Home
Charter
Total
190
52
19
11
9
Percent
67.6%
18.5%
6.8%
3.9%
3.2%
142 GIRLS: 50.53% 139 BOYS: 49.47% NUMBER OF SPELLERS: 281
SPELL-PEATERS
There are many spellers returning to the Scripps National
Spelling Bee this year. In fact, 78 spellers have collectively
competed in 104 previous Bees.
FIVE-YEAR REPEATER (1)
154 Sriram Hathwar
FOUR-YEAR REPEATERS (5)
60 Lucas Urbanski
61 Yasir Hasnain
90 Vanya Shivashankar
222 Isabella Neubauer
264 Shayley Martin
THREE-YEAR REPEATERS(13)
18 Isabel Cholbi
68 Sophie Bergman
123 Hannah Jackson
132 Faaris Khan
139 Gokul Venkatachalam
145 Eboseremhen Eigbe
147 Katharine Wang
149 Carson Monks
165 Dylan OConnor
172 Katie Danis
187 Joseph Cusi Delamerced
232 Kate Miller
262 Jae Canetti
TWO-YEAR REPEATERS (59)
7 Chythanya Murali
14 Patrizzia Fox-Beaudet
16 Aditya Mishra
20 Neha Konakalla
32 Keshav Ramesh
34 Lillian Allingham
43 Mary Horton
47 Brian Reinhart
55 Christine Alex
57 Meghana Kamineni
58 Alia Abiad
59 Zander Patent
83 Kimmie Collins
84 Sean Ives
85 Zander Reed
89 Sterling Hollond
112 Meryl Warpula
115 Neha Seshadri
120 Marguerite Arbogast
121 Nathaniel Britton
124 Cameron Haynes
135 Jade Samanta
142 Amna Raza
STUDYING SIBLINGS
Many spellers list their brothers and sisters
as study buddies. Of this years spellers, 56
are only children and 124 spellers have one
sibling. The remaining 101 spellers have 290
siblings combined. Ten spellers spellers 4,
53, 85, 88, 163, 168, 182, 227, 236, 267 have
5 siblings or more. And speller 88, Michaella
Bostrom, is the 9th of 13 children.
Four spellers have a fraternal twin spellers
26, 30, 60, 248 and spellers 162 and 268
have identical twins. Speller 114, Spencer
Pogue, is a triplet, as is speller 268, Buck
Walling.
SPELLING IN THEIR BLOOD
Twenty two spellers
have relatives who have
participated in a combined
52 Scripps National Spelling
Bees. Kavya Shivashankar,
the sister of speller 90,
Vanya Shivashankar, won in 2009; and Anamika Veeramani,
the sister of speller 188, Ashwin Veeramani, won in 2010.
146 Sanjana Malla
155 Gavin Buehler
158 Michael James
159 Sai Vishudhi Chandrasekhar
167 Shiv Patel
178 Lauren Lim
188 Ashwin Veeramani
190 Kaitlin Hall
192 Alotus Wei
194 Justin Hamilton
195 Sasha Davis
196 Nathan Keenan
201 Nicholas Stark
202 Cole Shafer-Ray
203 Divya Amirtharaj
204 Shreyas Parab
205 Jacob George
207 Aparajita Rao
208 Hannah Citsay
210 Anna Tran
214 Emily Gunkel
216 Alexandra Harper
217 Stephen Landry
223 Kalika Bridwell
224 Antonio Vince Miguel Lansang
226 Benjamin Kulas
237 Ansun Sujoe
238 Shobha Dasari
239 Syamantak Payra
243 Gabrielle Rubio
244 Kara Lehnert
250 Manav Thadani
255 Samuel Pereles
259 Jensen Schram
275 Lillian Bischof
277 Victoria Allen
This years competitors are all great spellers, but thats not all they do! Heres a brief look into the interests and accomplishments
of the students competing to become the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion.
Speller 59 Zander Patent
In his free time, Zander
enjoys remixing and
singing his own creative
versions of popular music.
Speller 68 Sophie Bergman
Sophie is a world traveler.
Her extensive travels have
taken her to all 50 states
and 25 countries.
Speller 105 Maddie K. Bowers
Maddie has performed in
several ballets and she
was the lead in her dance
schools performance of
The Nutcracker.
Speller 138 Peyton Wiewel
Peyton is a competitive
figure skater who has won
a gold medal in the Ice
Skating Institute world
championships.
Speller 154 Sriram J. Hathwar
Sriram, who is returning to
the Scripps National Spelling
Bee for the 5th time this year,
spoke about his experiences
at a TEDx event.
Speller 103 Megan A. Rabe
Megan is a talented violinist
who has performed in
prestigious venues such
as the Kennedy Center
for the Performing Arts.
Speller 186 Olivia C. Kaiser
Olivia is passionate about music
and plays college-level classical
piano and sings in three choirs. In
March, Olivia performed at one of
the most famous concert venues
in the world, Carnegie Hall.
Speller 239 Syamantak Payra
Syamantak enjoys creative
writing and has published
more than a dozen poems and
essays in various anthologies,
magazines and books.
Speller 262 Jae Canetti
Jae loves math and puzzles.
He can solve a Rubiks Cube
in less than 40 seconds and
recite pi up to 115 digits.
GET TO KNOW THE SPELLERS
Favorite Sports
1. Soccer
2. Basketball
3. Swimming
4. Tennis
5. Football
Favorite Musician/Band
1. Taylor Swift
2. Imagine Dragons
3. The Beatles
4. Eminem
5. Beethoven
Favorite Novels
1. Veronica Roths Divergent series
2. J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter series
3. Suzanne Collins Hunger Games trilogy
4. Rick Riordans Percy Jackson & the Olympians series
5. John Greens The Fault in Our Stars
Favorite Movies
1. The Hunger Games series
2. The Harry Potter series
3. Frozen
4. Divergent
Favorite T.V. Shows
1. The Big Bang Theory
2. Doctor Who
3. Jeopardy
4. Sherlock
5. Shark Tank
Favorite App or
Computer Game
1. Minecraft
2. Flappy Bird
3. Temple Run
4. Clash of Clans
5. Fruit Ninja
Hope to Attend
1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. M.I.T.
4. Yale
Favorite Historical Figure
1. Abraham Lincoln
2. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
3. Mahatma Gandhi
4. Albert Einstein
5. George Washington
Languages Spoken
English is not the 1st language of 28 spellers. Overall, 138
spellers speak or study a language other than English,
including Filipino, Finnish, Hindi, Ilocano, Indonesian,
Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Marathi, Polish,
Russian, Samoan, Telugu, Urdu and Vietnamese.
CHAMPIONS AND THEIR WINNING WORDS
1925: GLADIOLUS
Frank Neuhauser
Louisville Courier-Journal
Louisville, Kentucky
1926: CERISE
Pauline Bell
1927: LUXURIANCE
Dean Lucas
Akron Beacon Journal
Akron, Ohio
1928: ALBUMEN
Betty Robinson
South Bend News-Tribune
South Bend, Indiana
1929: ASCETICISM
Virginia Hogan
The Omaha World-Herald
Omaha, Nebraska
1930: FRACAS
Helen Jensen
Des Moines Register & Tribune
Des Moines, Iowa
1931: FOULARD
Ward Randall
White Hall Register-Republican
White Hall, Illinois
1932: KNACK
Dorothy Greenwalk
Des Moines, Iowa
1933: TORSION
Alma Roach
Akron, Ohio
1934: DETERIORATING
Sarah Wilson
Portland Evening Press
Portland, Maine
1935: INTELLIGIBLE
Clara Mohler
Akron, Ohio
1936: INTERNING
Jean Trowbridge
Des Moines, Iowa
1937: PROMISCUOUS
Waneeta Beckley
1938: SANITARIUM
Marian Richardson
Louisville Times
1939: CANONICAL
Elizabeth Ann Rice
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Worcester, Massachusetts
1940: THERAPY
Laurel Kuykendall
The Knoxville News Sentinel
Knoxville, Tennessee
1941: INITIALS
Louis Edward Sissman
Detroit News
Detroit, Michigan
1942: SACRILEGIOUS
Richard Earnhart
El Paso Herald-Post
El Paso, Texas
1946: SEMAPHORE
John McKinney
Des Moines, Iowa
1947: CHLOROPHYLL
Mattie Lou Pollard
Atlanta Journal
Atlanta, Georgia
1948: PSYCHIATRY
Jean Chappelear
Akron, Ohio
1949: DULCIMER
Kim Calvin
Canton Repository
Canton, Ohio
1950: METICULOSITY
Diana Reynard
Cleveland Press
Cleveland, Ohio
and Colquitt Dean
Atlanta Journal
Atlanta, Georgia
1951: INSOUCIANT
Irving Belz
Memphis Press Scimitar
Memphis, Tennessee
1952: VIGNETTE
Doris Ann Hall
Winston-Salem Journal
Winston-Salem,
North Carolina
1953: SOUBRETTE
Elizabeth Hess
Arizona Republic
Phoenix, Arizona
1954: TRANSEPT
William Cashore
Norristown Times Herald
Norristown, Pennsylvania
1955: CRUSTACEOLOGY
Sandra Sloss
St. Louis Globe-Democrat
St. Louis, Missouri
1956: CONDOMINIUM
Melody Sachko
The Pittsburgh Press
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1957: SCHAPPE
Sandra Owen
Canton Repository
Canton, Ohio
and Dana Bennett
Rocky Mountain News
Denver, Colorado
1958: SYLLEPSIS
Jolitta Schlehuber
Topeka Daily Capital
Topeka, Kansas
1959: CATAMARAN
Joel Montgomery
Rocky Mountain News
Denver, Colorado
1960: EUDAEMONIC
Henry Feldman
1961: SMARAGDINE
John Capehart
Tulsa Tribune
Tulsa, Oklahoma
1962: ESQUAMULOSE
Nettie Crawford
El Paso Herald-Post
El Paso, Texas
and Michael Day
St. Louis Globe-Democrat
St. Louis, Missouri
1963: EQUIPAGE
Glen Van Slyke III
1964: SYCOPHANT
William Kerek
Akron, Ohio
1965: ECZEMA
Michael Kerpan, Jr.
Tulsa Tribune
Tulsa, Oklahoma
1966: RATOON
Robert A. Wake
Houston Chronicle
Houston, Texas
1967: CHIHUAHUA
Jennifer Reinke
The Omaha World-Herald
Omaha, Nebraska
1968: ABALONE
Robert L. Walters
The Topeka Daily Capital
Topeka, Kansas
1925
1926
1971
1969: INTERLOCUTORY
Susan Yoachum
Dallas Morning News
Dallas, Texas
1970: CROISSANT
Libby Childress
Winston-Salem Journal & Sentinel
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
1971: SHALLOON
Jonathan Knisely
Philadelphia Bulletin
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1972: MACERATE
Robin Kral
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Lubbock, Texas
1973: VOUCHSAFE
Barrie Trinkle
Fort Worth Press
Fort Worth, Texas
1974: HYDROPHYTE
Julie Ann Junkin
Birmingham Post-Herald
Birmingham, Alabama
1975: INCISOR
Hugh Tosteson
San Juan Star
San Juan, Puerto Rico
1976: NARCOLEPSY
Tim Kneale
Syracuse Herald
Journal-American
Syracuse, New York
1977: CAMBIST
John Paola
1978: DEIFICATION
Peg McCarthy
The Topeka Capital-Journal
Topeka, Kansas
1979: MACULATURE
Katie Kerwin
Rocky Mountain News
Denver, Colorado
1994: ANTEDILUVIAN
Ned G. Andrews
1995: XANTHOSIS
Justin Tyler Carroll
The Commercial Appeal
Memphis, Tennessee
1996: VIVISEPULTURE
Wendy Guey
The Palm Beach Post
West Palm Beach, Florida
1997: EUONYM
Rebecca Sealfon
Daily News
New York, New York
1998: CHIAROSCURIST
Jody-Anne Maxwell
Phillips & Phillips
Stationery Suppliers
Kingston, Jamaica
1999: LOGORRHEA
Nupur Lala
The Tampa Tribune
Tampa, Florida
2000: DEMARCHE
George Abraham Thampy
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis, Missouri
2001: SUCCEDANEUM
Sean Conley
Aitkin Independent Age
Aitkin, Minnesota
2002: PROSPICIENCE
Pratyush Buddiga
Rocky Mountain News
Denver, Colorado
2003: POCOCURANTE
Sai R. Gunturi
The Dallas Morning News
Dallas, Texas
2004: AUTOCHTHONOUS
David Scott Pilarski Tidmarsh
South Bend Tribune
South Bend, Indiana
2005: APPOGGIATURA
Anurag Kashyap
San Diego Union-Tribune
San Diego, California
2006: URSPRACHE
Katharine Close
Asbury Park Press/
Home News Tribune
Asbury Park, New Jersey
2007: SERREFINE
Evan M. ODorney
Contra Costa Times
Walnut Creek, California
2008: GUERDON
Sameer Mishra
Journal and Courier
Lafayette, Indiana
2009: LAODICEAN
Kavya Shivashankar
The Olathe News
Olathe, Kansas
2010: STROMUHR
Anamika Veeramani
The Plain Dealer
Cleveland, Ohio
2011: CYMOTRICHOUS
Sukanya Roy
Times Leader
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
2012: GUETAPENS
Snigdha Nandipati
U-T San Diego
San Diego, California
2013: KNAIDEL
Arvind Mahankali
Daily News
New York, New York
1980: ELUCUBRATE
Jacques Bailly
Rocky Mountain News
Denver, Colorado
1981: SARCOPHAGUS
Paige Pipkin
El Paso Herald-Post
El Paso, Texas
1982: PSORIASIS
Molly Dieveney
Rocky Mountain News
Denver, Colorado
1983: PURIM
Blake Giddens
El Paso Herald-Post
El Paso, Texas
1984: LUGE
Daniel Greenblatt
Loudoun Times-Mirror
Leesburg, Virginia
1985: MILIEU
Balu Natarajan
Chicago Tribune
Chicago, Illinois
1986: ODONTALGIA
Jon Pennington
The Patriot News
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
1987: STAPHYLOCOCCI
Stephanie Petit
1988: ELEGIACAL
Rageshree Ramachandran
The Sacramento Bee
Sacramento, California
1989: SPOLIATOR
Scott Isaacs
Rocky Mountain News
Denver, Colorado
1990: FIBRANNE
Amy Marie Dimak
The Seattle Times
Seattle, Washington
1991: ANTIPYRETIC
Joanne Lagatta
The Wisconsin State Journal
Madison, Wisconsin
1992: LYCEUM
Amanda Goad
The Richmond News Leader
Richmond, Virginia
1993: KAMIKAZE
Geoff Hooper
The Commercial Appeal
Memphis, Tennessee
Want to relive last years championship
moment? With a QR reader, use this
code to watch the video.
1996
FOR THE CHAMPION
From Scripps: a $30,000 cash prize and the Scripps National Spelling Bee engraved trophy
From Merriam-Webster: a $2,500 U.S. savings bond and a complete reference library
From Encyclopaedia Britannica: $1,200 of reference works including the Britannica Global Edition,
1768 Encyclopaedia Britannica Replica Set Deluxe Edition, 3-year membership to Britannica Online
Premium and Britannica World Atlas
FOR THE CHAMPIONS SCHOOL AND SPONSOR
From Scripps: Scripps National Spelling Bee engraved plaques
FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP FINALISTS
A medal from the Scripps National Spelling Bee
Cash Prizes
Misspell in the first round of the Championship Finals to 7th place: $1,500
6th Place: $2,000
5th Place: $2,500
4th Place: $3,000
3rd Place: $7,500
2nd Place: $12,500
FOR THE SEMIFINALISTS
A medal from the Scripps National Spelling Bee and a $500 gift card
FOR ALL SPELLERS
From Merriam-Webster: Websters Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, including a CD-ROM
From Mr. Jay Sugarman: The Samuel Louis Sugarman Award a 2014 United States Mint
Proof Set presented by Mr. Sugarman in honor of his father
From Microsoft: educational tools
From Encyclopaedia Britannica: a one-year membership to Britannica Online Premium
Spellers who are eliminated from the competition in the same round are assigned the same rank (place). If Bee officials
declare Co-Champions, each Co-Champion will receive a $30,000 first place cash prize.
PRIZES
SPELLERS AND SPONSORS
ALABAMA
1 Joshua Bryant Kelley of
Gadsden is a 13-year-old
7th grader at Gadsden
Middle School. His
sponsor is Adventure
Travel, Birmingham.
ALASKA
2 Abigail FitzGibbon of
Sitka is a 12-year-old 7th
grader at Blatchley Middle
School. Her sponsor is the
Anchorage Daily News.
3 Vivian R. Miller of Delta
Junction is an 11-year-old
6th grader at Whitestone
Farms School. Her
sponsor is the Daily
News-Miner, Fairbanks.
AMERICAN SAMOA
4 Walter Faapouli of
Olosega Manua is a
13-year-old 7th grader
at Olosega Elementary
School. His sponsor is the
Samoa News, Pago Pago.
ARIZONA
5 Nila Dhinaker of Gilbert
is a 12-year-old 7th grader
at Cooley Middle School.
Her sponsor is the Arizona
Educational Foundation,
Scottsdale.
6 Alessandro Luis Bolus
of Second Mesa is a
at Second Mesa Day
Navajo Times Publishing
Company, Window Rock.
ARKANSAS
7 Chythanya Murali of Little
Rock is a 13-year-old 8th
grader at LISA Academy
West. Her sponsor is the
Arkansas Democrat Gazette,
Little Rock.
THE BAHAMAS
8 Prachi Kondapuram of
Nassau is an 11-year-old
7th grader at Queens
College. Her sponsor is
The Nassau Guardian.
CALIFORNIA
9 Eesha R. Sohail of
Bakersfield is a 12-year-
old 7th grader at Norris
Middle School. Her
sponsor is KERO 23 ABC,
Bakersfield.
10 Sam Coats of Ventura
at Cabrillo Middle School.
His sponsor is the Ventura
County Star, Camarillo.
11 Sanat Mishra of Chino
Hills is a 12-year-old 7th
grader at Canyon Hills Junior
High School. His sponsor is
Quest Literacy Consortium,
Inc., Diamond Bar.
12 Chase Seals of Imperial
at Frank Wright Middle
School. His sponsor is
the Imperial Valley Press,
El Centro.
13 Timothy Lau of Torrance
at Calle Mayor Middle
Los Angeles Spelling Bee
Collaborative.
14 Patrizzia C. Fox-Beaudet
of Cottonwood is a 12-year-
old 7th grader at University
Preparatory School. Her
sponsor is the Record
Searchlight, Redding.
15 Keerthana Sivathasan
of Corona is a 12-year-
old 8th grader at Corona
Fundamental Intermediate
School. Her sponsor is
The Press-Enterprise,
Riverside.
16 Aditya Mishra of
Lincoln is a 12-year-old 7th
grader at Olympus Junior
The Sacramento Bee.
17 Jonathan P. Capuyan
of Salinas is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Palma
Monterey County Office of
Education, Salinas.
18 Isabel Cholbi of San
Bernardino is a 12-year-old
8th grader at Cesar E. Chavez
Middle School. Her sponsor
is the San Bernardino
Spelling Bee Collaborative.
19 Allison Grace Grygar
of San Diego is a
at St. Michaels Catholic
U-T San Diego.
20 Neha Konakalla of
Cupertino is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Sam H. Lawson
is KPIX-TV & KCBS Radio
AM & FM, San Francisco.
21 Samuel Littrell of
Placentia is a 12-year-old 6th
grader at Golden Elementary
School. His sponsor is The
Orange County Register,
Santa Ana.
22 Victoria Lynn Phillips of
Yermo is an 11-year-old 6th
grader at Yermo School.
Her sponsor is the Daily
Press, Victorville.
23 Eileen Xue of Tulare is
a 12-year-old 6th grader at
Mission Valley Elementary
Visalia Times-Delta/
Tulare Advance-Register.
24 Shirlyn Prabahar of
San Ramon is a 13-year-old
8th grader at Gale Ranch
is the Contra Costa Times,
Walnut Creek.
CANADA
25 Emily D. Hynes of
Torbay is a 10-year-old
5th grader at Holy Trinity
Elementary School. Her
sponsor is The Telegram,
St. Johns, Newfoundland
and Labrador.
CHINA
27 Dana Chiueh of Hsinchu
City is a 13-year-old 7th
grader at the International
Bilingual School at
Hsinchu-Science-Park.
Her sponsor is the
Community Center Shanghai.
CONNECTICUT
31 Anika R. Malayappan
of Danbury is an 11-year-
old 5th grader at Stadley
Rough Elementary
the Hearst Connecticut
Media Group, Danbury.
32 Keshav Ramesh of
South Windsor is an
at Eli Terry Elementary
New Haven Register.
33 Connor Spencer
of Barkhamsted is a
13-year-old 8th grader at
Northwestern Regional
Middle School. His
sponsor is the Register
Citizen, Torrington.
281 Noah Fitzgerald of
Ridgefield is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Scotts Ridge
Middle School. His sponsor
is the Hearst Connecticut
Media Group, Danbury.
38 Jacob Daniel
Williamson of Cape
Coral is a home-schooled
15-year-old 8th grader. His
sponsor is The Daily News,
Bonita Springs.
39 Daniel G. Samraj of
Gainesville is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Westwood
is The Florida Times-Union,
Jacksonville.
40 Dylan Olster of Pembroke
Pines is a 14-year-old 8th
grader at Pembroke Pines
Charter Middle School West
Campus. His sponsor is
The Miami Herald.
41 Amber R. Robinson of
Homestead is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Herbert
A. Ammons Middle
The Miami Herald.
42 Amy A. Maldonado of
Naples is a 14-year-old 8th
grader at Golden Gate
is the Naples Daily News.
43 Mary Elizabeth Horton
of West Melbourne is a
home-schooled 13-year-
old 8th grader. Her sponsor
is Orlando Sentinel
Communications.
44 Riju Datta of Tampa is a
Corbett Preparatory School
of IDS. His sponsor is the
Tampa Bay Spelling Bee
Collaborative, St. Petersburg.
28 Xi Yuan Wang of Shaoxing
is a 12-year-old 6th grader at
Qooco Training School. His
sponsor is the Community
Center Shanghai.
COLORADO
29 Teddy Schoenfeld of
Boulder is a 13-year-old 7th
grader at Summit Middle
Barnes & Noble, Boulder.
30 Alex Jurich of Denver
at Hamilton Middle
The Denver Post.
DELAWARE
34 Lillian Elizabeth
Allingham of Wilmington is
Sanford School. Her sponsor
is the Delaware Spelling Bee
Collaborative, Wilmington.
DISTRICT OF
COLUMBIA
35 Greer R. Marshall of
Washington is an 11-year-
old 6th grader at Alice Deal
is The Washington Informer.
EUROPE
36 Selomi Dayaprema of
Vicenza, Italy is an 11-year-
old 6th grader at Vicenza
Middle School, U.S.
Department of Defense
European PTA, Defense and
State Department Schools.
FLORIDA
37 Alexander John Manning
of Lakeland is a 13-year-
old 8th grader at Lakeland
Highlands Middle School. His
sponsor is the Polk County
School District Collaborative,
Bartow.
45 Jonathan Buckley of
Vero Beach is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Saint
Edwards School. His
sponsor is Treasure Coast
Newspapers, Stuart.
46 Summer Skye Hayes of
Marianna is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Cottondale
High School. Her sponsor is
the Tallahassee Democrat.
47 Brian Reinhart of
Palm Beach Gardens is
a 14-year-old 8th grader
at The Weiss School. His
sponsor is the Kiwanis
Club of West Palm Beach.
GEORGIA
48 Charles Sirui Li of
Martinez is an 11-year-
old 5th grader at Stevens
Creek Elementary School.
His sponsor is The Augusta
Chronicle.
26 Ryan Glenn Spencer of
Great Village is a 13-year-
old 7th grader at West
Colchester Consolidated
The Chronicle Herald,
Halifax, Nova Scotia.
SPELLERS AND SPONSORS continued
49 Sumedh S. Garimella
of Duluth is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Richard Hull
is the Georgia Association
of Educators, Tucker.
GHANA
50 Khushi Jeswani of
Accra is a 10-year-old
6th grader at Delhi Public
the Young Educators
Foundation, Accra.
GUAM
51 Ron Rocky Naig Coloma
of Barrigada is a 12-year-
old 6th grader at Santa
Barbara Catholic School.
His sponsor is the Pacific
Daily News, Hagta.
HAWAII
52 Christianne Borbe
Abella of Kailua Kona is
at Konawaena Middle
aio, Honolulu.
54 Maia R. Dykstra of
Clarkston, Washington, is
at Asotin Junior High
the Lewiston Tribune.
57 Meghana Kamineni of
Lockport is a 13-year-old
8th grader at Homer Junior
High School. Her sponsor
is Commonwealth Edison,
Chicago.
58 Alia Abiad of Western
Springs is a 14-year-old 8th
grader at McClure Junior
is Commonwealth Edison,
Chicago.
60 Lucas Michael Urbanski
of Crystal Lake is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Immanuel
Lutheran School. His
sponsor is the Northwest
Herald, Crystal Lake.
61 Yasir Hasnain of Forsyth
at Maroa-Forsyth Middle
Macon-Piatt Regional Office
of Education, Decatur.
62 Keith Gerard Mokry
of Somonauk is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Somonauk
is the Daily Chronicle,
DeKalb.
63 Anna Ackerman Snider
of Forreston is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Forrestville
Valley Junior/Senior High
The Telegraph, Dixon.
64 Kendra Leanne Scace
of Stockton is an 11-year-
old 6th grader at Stockton
is the Carroll/JoDaviess/
Stephenson Regional Office
of Education, Freeport.
65 Adam R. Kastler of Vernon
Hills is a 14-year-old 8th
grader at West Oak Middle
Lake County Regional Office
of Education, Grayslake.
IDAHO
53 Kiana Jaz Lacroix
of Coeur dAlene is a
Coeur dAlene Charter
Academy. Her sponsor is
the Coeur dAlene Press.
56 Nafisa Asad of
Oakbrook is a 13-year-old
8th grader at Herrick Middle
Commonwealth Edison,
Chicago.
ILLINOIS
55 Christine Alex of
Chicago is a 13-year-old
7th grader at Whitney
Young Magnet High
Chicago Public Schools.
59 Zander Patent of
Chicago is a 13-year-old
7th grader at Latin School
of Chicago. His sponsor is
the Chicago Spelling Bee
Collaborative.
66 Madhav Chand Srivatsa
Gampala of Bradley is a
Bradley Central Middle
Daily Journal, Kankakee.
67 Kodai M. Speich of
Rockford is a 10-year-old
5th grader at Washington
Academy. His sponsor is
the Boone-Winnebago
Regional Office of
Education, Loves Park.
68 Sophie Bergman of
Bettendorf, Iowa, is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Morning Star
Academy. Her sponsor is The
Dispatch and The Rock Island
Argus, Moline.
69 Srivinay Tummarakota
of Peoria is a 12-year-
old 7th grader at Dunlap
Valley Middle School.
His sponsor is the Peoria
Journal Star.
INDIANA
72 Tristan B. Hankins
of Alexandria is a 12-year-
old 6th grader at Highland
is The Herald Bulletin,
Anderson.
70 Anika Patel of Gilberts
at Cambridge Lakes
Charter School. Her
sponsor is the Kane County
Chronicle, Saint Charles.
71 Audrey Melton of Rock
Falls is a 14-year-old 8th
grader at St. Andrew
Catholic Grade School.
Her sponsor is The Daily
Gazette, Sterling.
278 Medha C. Venigalla of
Springfield is a 12-year-old
7th grader at Glenwood
is The State Journal-Register,
Springfield.
75 Vanessa Anna
Jodlowski of Evansville
at North Junior High
Evansville Courier & Press.
76 Lwin Moe Aung of Fort
Wayne is a 13-year-old 7th
grader at Lutheran South
Unity School. His sponsor
is The Journal Gazette, Fort
Wayne.
77 Victor Y. Xiao of Carmel
at Park Tudor School.
His sponsor is Indiana
University-Purdue
University Indianapolis.
78 Anastasia Spahr of Peru
is an 11-year-old 5th grader
at Maconaquah Elementary
School. Her sponsor is Ivy
Tech Community College,
Kokomo.
83 Kimmie Collins of Terre
Haute is a 14-year-old 8th
grader at Woodrow Wilson
is The Tribune-Star, Terre
Haute.
84 Sean Kenneth Ives of
Crown Point is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Trinity
Lutheran School. His
sponsor is the Kankakee
Valley REMC, Wanatah.
280 Akshaj Mishra
of Evansville is a 12-year-
old 6th grader at Perry
Heights Middle School.
His sponsor is the
Evansville Courier & Press.
86 Sibani S. Ram of
Dubuque is a 13-year-
old 7th grader at George
Washington Middle
the Telegraph Herald,
Dubuque.
94 Amelia Hebert of
Lafayette is a 12-year-old
6th grader at Cathedral-
Carmel School. Her
sponsor is the Kiwanis
Club of Lafayette.
IOWA
85 Zander Reed of
Ankeny is a home-schooled
11-year-old 6th grader with
the Ames Homeschool
Assistance Program. His
sponsor is Iowa State
University, Greenlee
School of Journalism &
Communication, Ames.
73 Alexandria Louise Wilt
of Martinsville is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Ronald K.
Bell East Middle School.
Her sponsor is Indiana
University, Bloomington.
74 Alekhya Ankaraju of
Carmel is a 13-year-old
8th grader at Carmel
Middle School. Her
sponsor is Williams
Comfort Air, Carmel.
79 Andy M. Bertodano
of West Lafayette is a
West Lafayette Junior/
Senior High School. His
sponsor is the Journal and
Courier, Lafayette.
80 Jinwon Pae of Marion
is an 11-year-old 5th grader
at Justice Intermediate
Indiana Wesleyan
University, Marion.
81 Risha Mehta of Yorktown
at Burris Laboratory School.
Her sponsor is The Star
Press, Muncie.
82 Hudson T. Wellin of
South Bend is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Community
Baptist Christian School.
His sponsor is the South
Bend Tribune.
JAMAICA
87 Tajaun S. Gibbison of
Mandeville is a 13-year-
old 8th grader at Knox
College. His sponsor is
the Jamaica Gleaner,
Kingston.
JAPAN
88 Michaella Shari
Bostrom of Kakegawa-shi
at Kakegawa International
Christian School. Her sponsor
is The Japan Times, Tokyo.
KANSAS
89 Sterling A. Hollond
of Linwood is a 13-year-
old 7th grader at Basehor-
Linwood Middle School.
His sponsor is the
Hays Daily News.
90 Vanya Shivashankar
of Olathe is a 12-year-old
7th grader at California
Trail Middle School. Her
sponsor is The Olathe
News.
91 Ethan S. Perrins of
Lawrence is a 13-year-old
8th grader at Southwest
Middle School. His
sponsor is The Topeka
Capital-Journal.
KENTUCKY
92 Paul Keaton of Pikeville
at Christ Central School.
His sponsor is the Scripps
Howard First Amendment
Center, Lexington.
LOUISIANA
93 Navya Murugesan of
Baton Rouge is a 12-year-
old 6th grader at Glasgow
is the Louisiana Childrens
Discovery Center, Hammond.
95 Chloe S. LaFleur
of West Monroe is a
at Good Hope Middle
The News-Star, Monroe.
96 Peter Antony Davis of
Metairie is a 13-year-old
8th grader at Brother
Martin High School. His
sponsor is The Times-
Picayune, New Orleans.
103 Megan A. Rabe of
Clarksville is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Clarksville
Middle School. Her
sponsor is the Howard
County Library, Columbia.
97 Mary Wynne of
Ruston is a 13-year-old
8th grader at Cedar Creek.
Her sponsor is the Alliance
For Education, Shreveport.
MAINE
98 Nathan A. Manaker of
Orono is a 12-year-old 7th
grader at Orono Middle
School. His sponsor
is Husson University,
Bangor.
99 Lucy Tumavicus of
Portland is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Lincoln Middle
Portland Press Herald/
Maine Sunday Telegram.
MARYLAND
100 Isabelle Marie
Simmons of Crofton is a
School of the Incarnation.
Her sponsor is the 21st
Century Education
Foundation, Annapolis.
101 Danyah Farhat
Imam of Catonsville is a
at Al-Rahmah School.
Her sponsor is Learn It
Systems, Baltimore.
102 Nikita Singh of
Rockville is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Takoma
Park Middle School. Her
sponsor is The Meakem
Group, Bethesda.
104 Stephen Hochschild
of Emmitsburg is a
Mother Seton School. His
sponsor is the Frederick
County Public Libraries.
105 Maddie K. Bowers of
Hagerstown is a 13-year-
old 8th grader at E. Russell
Hicks Middle School.
Her sponsor is The
Herald-Mail, Hagerstown.
106 Tamya Michelle
Matthews of Clinton is
at Mt. Calvary Catholic
School. Her sponsor is The
Gazette & The Star, Laurel.
107 Jennifer M. Tenant of
Hollywood is a 13-year-old
7th grader at Father Andrew
White S.J. School. Her
sponsor is The Enterprise,
Lexington Park.
108 Selena D. Antosh
of Prince Frederick is a
Calvert Middle School. Her
sponsor is The Recorder,
Prince Frederick.
109 Gia Lauren B. Bautista
of Salisbury is a 12-year-
old 7th grader at Wicomico
Middle School. Her
sponsor is the University
of Maryland Eastern
Shore, Princess Anne.
110 Aashka J. Patel of
Hughesville is a 13-year-
old 7th grader at Milton M.
Somers Middle School. Her
sponsor is the Maryland
Independent, Waldorf.
112 Meryl R. Warpula of
Leominster is a 13-year-
old 7th grader at Sky
View Middle School. Her
sponsor is the Sentinel &
Enterprise, Fitchburg.
113 Mitchell A. Robson of
Marblehead is a 12-year-old
6th grader at Marblehead
Community Charter Public
Daily Item, Lynn.
MASSACHUSETTS
111 Christy Jose Jestin of
West Roxbury, Boston is
at William H. Ohrenberger
Boston Centers for Youth
& Families.
119 Nathan A. Jasper of
Attica is a 14-year-old 8th
grader at Zemmer Middle
The County Press, Lapeer.
120 Marguerite Arbogast
of Ludington is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at O.J.
DeJonge Middle School.
Her sponsor is the
Ludington Daily News.
114 Spencer Pogue of
Edgartown is a 12-year-old
6th grader at Edgartown
The Marthas Vineyard
Times, Vineyard Haven.
116 Rebecca Tran of
Wyoming is a 13-year-old 7th
grader at Grandville Middle
Kent Intermediate School
District, Grand Rapids.
117 Rushil Raghu Kasetty of
Gladstone is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Holy Name
Catholic School. His sponsor
is the Upper Peninsula
Spelling Bee Collaborative,
Iron Mountain.
MICHIGAN
115 Neha Seshadri
of Novi is a 13-year-old
8th grader at Northville
Christian School. Her
sponsor is The Detroit
News.
118 Sean Hickey of Grass
Lake is a 13-year-old 7th
grader at Grass Lake
Middle School. His
sponsor is The Jackson
Citizen Patriot.
122 Nikhil S. Dwibhashyam
of Lake Orion is a 13-year-
old 8th grader at Scripps
Middle School. His
sponsor is The Oakland
Press, Pontiac.
127 Mark J. Kivimaki
of Edina is a 13-year-old
7th grader at Valley
View Middle School. His
sponsor is Augsburg
College, Minneapolis.
128 Kellen Rufus Rodriguez
of Fairmont is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Fairmont
Junior/Senior High School.
Central Service Cooperative,
North Mankato.
129 Shane DeSilva of
Austin is a 14-year-old 8th
grader at Pacelli Catholic
Schools. His sponsor
is the Southeast Service
Cooperative, Rochester.
133 Joel C. Miles of
Greenwood is an 11-year-
old 5th grader at Eagle Glen
Intermediate School. His
sponsor is the Cass County
Democrat Missourian,
Harrisonville.
MISSISSIPPI
131 Caribbean SeaEra
Adams of Silver Creek is a
New Hebron Attendance
Center. Her sponsor is the
Mississippi Association of
Educators, Jackson.
123 Hannah Jackson
of Midland is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Saginaw
Arts & Sciences Academy.
Her sponsor is Saginaw
Valley State University.
124 Cameron L. Haynes of
Stevensville is a home-
schooled 13-year-old 7th
grader with Lakeshore
Lifelong Learners. His
sponsor is The Herald
Palladium, St. Joseph.
125 Jessie Skylar
Williams of Traverse City
at The Pathfinder School.
Her sponsor is the
Traverse City Record-
Eagle, Traverse City.
MINNESOTA
126 Alyssa E. Boynton
of Slayton is a 13-year-
old 7th grader at Murray
County Central. Her
sponsor is the Lakes
Country Service
Cooperative, Fergus Falls.
130 Lauren Crabtree of
Ironton is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Forestview
is the National Joint Powers
Alliance, Staples.
MISSOURI
132 Faaris Khan of
Columbia is a 13-year-
old 8th grader at Gentry
Middle School. His
sponsor is the Columbia
Daily Tribune.
134 Kush N. Sharma of
Kansas City is a 13-year-
old 7th grader at Frontier
School of Innovation. His
sponsor is the Jackson
County Spelling Bee
Collaborative, Kansas City.
135 Jade Ray Samanta of
Cape Girardeau is a 13-year-
Lutheran School. His sponsor
is Three Rivers Community
College, Poplar Bluff.
136 Julianna Sonnik of
Sedalia is an 11-year-old
5th grader at Sedalia
Middle School. Her
sponsor is the Sedalia
137 Krishan Ghosh of
Springfield is a 9-year-old
4th grader at David
Harrison Elementary
the College of Arts and
Letters-Missouri State
University, Springfield.
138 Peyton Wiewel of
Parkville is a 12-year-
old 6th grader at Plaza
Middle School. Her
sponsor is the St. Joseph
News-Press.
139 Gokul Venkatachalam
of Chesterfield is a 13-year-
old 7th grader at Parkway
West Middle School. His
sponsor is the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch.
MONTANA
140 Erik Alexander Hovland
of Billings is a 13-year-old
7th grader at Canyon
Creek School. His sponsor
is Lee Newspapers of
Montana, Billings.
NEBRASKA
141 Grace Johanningsmeier
of Omaha is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Westside
is the Omaha World-Herald.
NEVADA
142 Amna Raza of Las
Vegas is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Omar Haikal
Islamic Academy. Her
sponsor is the Las Vegas
Review-Journal.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
143 Arushi R. Kalpande of
Billerica, Massachusetts,
at Infant Jesus School.
Her sponsor is the New
Hampshire Union Leader,
Manchester.
121 Nathaniel Britton of
Macomb is a 13-year-old
7th grader at Shelby Junior
The Macomb Daily.
149 Carson A. Monks of
Montague is a home-
grader. His sponsor is the
Tri-State Spelling Bee
Committee, Montague.
150 Aron Wiener of Loch
Arbour is a 12-year-old 6th
grader at Oak Hill Academy.
His sponsor is the Asbury
Park Press/Home News
Tribune, Neptune.
153 Andrew C. Erdman of
Williamsville is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Saints
Peter and Paul School.
His sponsor is The Buffalo
News.
155 Gavin J. Buehler
of Pultneyville is a
Williamson Middle School.
His sponsor is the Finger
Lakes Times, Geneva.
NEW MEXICO
151 Anish Kumar of
Santa Fe is a 13-year-old
7th grader at Desert
Academy. His sponsor is
The Albuquerque Journal.
154 Sriram J. Hathwar of
Painted Post is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Alternative
School for Math and
Science. His sponsor
is the Corning Rotary Club.
NEW YORK
152 Lydia Loverin of
Pittsfield, Massachusetts,
at Mountain Road School.
Her sponsor is the Times
Union, Albany.
NEW JERSEY
144 Alexander Paul Hauer
of Blackwood is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Glen
Landing Middle School.
His sponsor is the Camden
145 Eboseremhen I. Eigbe
of Galloway is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Galloway
Township Middle School.
Jersey Spelling Bee
Collaborative, Galloway.
146 Sanjana Mohan
Malla of Haverstraw, New
York, is a 13-year-old 8th
grader at Fieldstone Middle
Record and Herald News,
Hackensack.
147 Katharine S. Wang of
Morristown is a 12-year-
old 7th grader at The Peck
The Record and Herald
News, Hackensack.
148 Ed Horan of Hoboken
is a 14-year-old 8th
grader at The Hudson
the Hudson County Office
of Cultural and Heritage
Affairs, Jersey City.
156 Katie Ammann of
Johnstown is a 13-year-
old 7th grader at Knox
Junior High School. Her
sponsor is The Leader-
Herald, Gloversville.
157 Jhanvi V. Ravishankar
of Nesconset is a 13-year-
old 8th grader at Great
Hollow Middle School.
Her sponsor is Hofstra
University, Hempstead.
158 Michael James of New
Windsor is a 14-year-old 8th
grader at Cornwall Central
is the Times Herald-Record,
Middletown.
159 Sai Vishudhi
Chandrasekhar of Flushing
at Hunter College High
Daily News, New York.
165 Dylan OConnor
of Alexandria Bay is a
at Alexandria Central
Watertown Daily Times.
166 Harshita M. Shet of
White Plains is a 10-year-
old 4th grader at R.J. Bailey
sponsor is the Theodore D.
Young Community Center,
White Plains.
160 Anil Singh of South
Ozone Park is an 11-year-
old 5th grader at The
Queens College School
for Math, Science and
Technology. His sponsor is
the Daily News, New York.
161 Buddy D. Noorlander
of Oneonta is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Oneonta
Middle School. His
sponsor is The Daily Star,
Oneonta.
162 David Simeon Khamis
of Oswego is a 14-year-
old 7th grader at Oswego
Community Christian
Palladium-Times, Oswego.
NORTH CAROLINA
167 Shiv Patel of
Burlington is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at
Turrentine Middle School.
His sponsor is the Times-
News, Burlington.
163 Connor S. Niederbuhl of
Champlain is a 13-year-old
7th grader at Northeastern
Clinton Central School. His
sponsor is the Press-
Republican, Plattsburgh.
164 Alaina Kenny of
Syracuse is a 13-year-old
8th grader at Onondaga
Hill Middle School. Her
sponsor is The Post-
Standard, Syracuse.
173 Kellan R. All of
Smithfield is a 10-year-
old 5th grader at Angier
Elementary School. His
sponsor is the Harnett
County Spelling Bee
Collaborative, Lillington.
174 Suzanna Murawski of
Raleigh is a 12-year-old 6th
grader at Ligon GT Magnet
Middle School. Her
sponsor is PAGE of Wake
County, Raleigh.
176 Emily Garcia of
Sanford is a 12-year-old
7th grader at East Lee
Middle School. Her
sponsor is PAGE of Lee
County, Sanford.
NORTH DAKOTA
181 Madeline R. Rickert
of Minot is a 13-year-old
7th grader at Erik Ramstad
is the North Dakota Council
of Educational Leaders,
Bismarck.
168 Mary C. Polking of
Charlotte is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Holy Trinity
Catholic Middle School.
Her sponsor is The
Charlotte Observer.
169 Abigail Pittman of
Four Oaks is an 11-year-
old 6th grader at
Southside Christian
The Clayton News-Star.
170 Bettie Lehem Closs of
Durham is a 10-year-old
5th grader at Little River
sponsor is Duke Universitys
Office of Durham
and Regional Affairs.
175 Hailey J. Lancaster of
Spring Hope is a 12-year-old
6th grader at Southern Nash
is the Delta Center for Life
Development, Inc., Rocky
Mount.
OHIO
182 Ferdian Euro
Aditama of Barberton is a
Barberton Middle School.
His sponsor is the Akron
Beacon Journal.
171 William Austin
Elder of Fayetteville is a
at Fayetteville Academy.
His sponsor is The
Fayetteville Observer.
172 Katie M. Danis of
Gastonia is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Gaston
Day School. Her sponsor
is The Gaston Gazette,
Gastonia.
177 Thomas Manning
of Boiling Springs is a
at Crest Middle School.
His sponsor is The Shelby
Star.
178 Lauren Somin Lim of
Greenville is a 13-year-old
8th grader at Hope Middle
Washington Daily News.
179 Zachary Vincent
Mallol of Wilson is a
at Springfield Middle
The Wilson Times.
180 Hayat Alkadir of High
Point is a 13-year-old 8th
grader at Ledford Middle
Winston-Salem Journal.
183 Harry Harman
of New Concord is a
at East Muskingum Middle
Ohio Universitys Scripps
College of Communication,
Athens.
185 Nolan R. Reed of New
Philadelphia is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Joseph
Welty Middle School.
His sponsor is The
Repository, Canton.
184 Max Danner of
Lewis Center is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Oakstone
Academy. His sponsor is Ohio
Universitys Scripps College
of Communication, Athens.
186 Olivia C. Kaiser of
Hebron, Kentucky, is a
Connor Middle School.
Her sponsor is WCPO,
Cincinnati.
187 Joseph Cusi
Delamerced of Cincinnati
at The Summit Country
Day School. His sponsor is
WCPO, Cincinnati.
188 Ashwin Veeramani of
North Royalton is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Incarnate
Word Academy. His sponsor
is the Northeast Ohio Media
Group, Cleveland.
189 Emily E. Helm of
Dayton is a 12-year-old 6th
grader at Our Lady of the
Immaculate Conception
Dayton Daily News.
191 Kyle Ayisi of
Pickerington is an
at Diley Middle School.
His sponsor is the
Lancaster Eagle-Gazette.
190 Kaitlin Hall of Avon is
Avon Middle School. Her
sponsor is the Educational
Service Center of Lorain
County, LaGrange.
192 Alotus Nguyen Wei of
Lima is a 12-year-old 6th
grader at Shawnee Middle
Lima News.
197 Phoebe M. Jackson
of Elmore is a 12-year-old
6th grader at Woodmore
sponsor is The Blade,
Toledo.
199 Melina Gabele of
Willoughby is a 12-year-
old 7th grader at Mater
Dei Academy. Her sponsor
is The News-Herald,
Willoughby.
198 Elias P. Kondolios of
Warren is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Howland
Middle School. His
sponsor is The Tribune
Chronicle, Warren.
200 Annabelle E. Day of
Boardman is a 12-year-
old 7th grader at Willow
Creek Learning Center.
Her sponsor is The
Vindicator, Youngstown.
193 Peyton Hall of
Sardis is a 14-year-old 8th
grader at River Elementary
Marietta Times.
194 Justin Thomas
Hamilton of Flushing is a
Union Local. His sponsor
is The Times Leader,
Martins Ferry.
195 Sasha M. Davis of
Washingtonville is a
Leetonia Middle School.
His sponsor is Salem News,
East Liverpool Review and
The Morning Journal.
196 Nathan J. Keenan of
Toronto is a 14-year-old 8th
grader at Toronto Junior/
Senior High School. His
sponsor is The Herald- Star,
Steubenville.
OKLAHOMA
201 Nicholas Allen Stark
of Howe is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Howe Public
Schools. His sponsor is
the Muskogee Spelling
Bee Collaborative.
202 Cole Shafer-Ray
of Norman is a 13-year-old
7th grader at Alcott Middle
Oklahoman, Oklahoma City.
OREGON
203 Divya Amirtharaj of
Beaverton is a 12-year-old
7th grader at Meadow
Park Middle School. Her
sponsor is the Portland
Tribune.
PENNSYLVANIA
204 Shreyas Parab of
Aston is a 13-year-old 8th
grader at Northley Middle
The Chester Spirit.
205 Jacob George of
Exton is a 13-year-old
8th grader at St. Norbert
School. His sponsor
is the Chester County
Intermediate Unit,
Downingtown.
206 Colin Francis of
Milford, New Jersey, is a
home-schooled 13-year-old
8th grader with Warren
Hunterdon Christian Home
Express-Times, Easton.
207 Aparajita Rao of
Hummelstown is a
St. Joan of Arc School.
Her sponsor is WITF:
Public Media for Central
Pennsylvania, Harrisburg.
208 Hannah Michele
Citsay of Lititz is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at St. Anne
Intelligencer Journal/
Lancaster New Era.
209 Kevin Cui of
Norristown is an 11-year-
old 5th grader at Skyview
Upper Elementary School.
His sponsor is The
Times Herald, Norristown.
210 Anna Tran of
Quakertown is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Strayer
Middle School. Her
sponsor is the Pennridge
Community Education
Foundation, Perkasie.
211 Diana T. Nguyen of
Philadelphia is a 13-year-old
8th grader at Philadelphia
Academy Charter School.
Her sponsor is The
Philadelphia Tribune.
212 Suneel Banerjee of
Pittsburgh is a 13-year-
old 8th grader at Fort
Couch Middle School. His
sponsor is the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette.
213 Devina Singh of
Frackville is a 13-year-
old 8th grader at North
Schuylkill Junior/Senior
is The Republican Herald,
Pottsville.
214 Emily M.X. Gunkel of
Leesport is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Schuylkill
Valley Middle School. Her
sponsor is the Reading
Eagle.
215 Tushan Dargan of
Edwardsville is a 9-year-
old 5th grader at Good
Shepherd Academy. His
sponsor is the Times
Leader, Wilkes-Barre.
PUERTO RICO
216 Alexandra Harper
of Guayama is a 13-year-
old 7th grader at
Guamani Private School.
Her sponsor is the
Commonwealth-Parkville
School, San Juan.
221 Lloyd Aleister Bonds
of Olanta is a 12-year-old
6th grader at Ronald E.
McNair Middle School.
His sponsor is the Pee
Dee Education Center,
Florence.
222 Isabella Mika
Neubauer of Pawleys Island
at The Georgetown School
of Arts and Sciences. Her
sponsor is The Sun News,
Myrtle Beach.
223 Kalika Melody
Burnett Bridwell of
Woodruff is a 13-year-
old 7th grader at Florence
Chapel Middle School. Her
sponsor is the Herald-
Journal, Spartanburg.
RHODE ISLAND
217 Stephen Andrew
Landry of Saunderstown
is an 11-year-old 6th
grader at Wickford
Middle School. His
sponsor is The Valley
Breeze, Cumberland.
SOUTH CAROLINA
218 Hussain A. Godhrawala
of Barnwell is an 8-year-
old 2nd grader at Barnwell
Primary School. His sponsor
is The Allendale Sun.
219 Andrew Dunn of
Anderson is a 13-year-old
8th grader at Lakeside
Middle School of Inquiry
and Innovation, a STEM
Anderson Independent
Mail.
220 Razeen Basunia of
North Charleston is an
Rollings Middle School
of the Arts. His sponsor
is The Post and Courier,
Charleston.
SOUTH DAKOTA
224 Antonio Vince Miguel
A. Lansang of Brookings is
George Mickelson Middle
University of South Dakota,
Vermillion.
SOUTH KOREA
225 Seongjun Lee of
Incheon Metropolitan City
at Jinsan Middle School.
His sponsor is Yoons
English School, Seoul.
TENNESSEE
226 Benjamin Kulas of
Nashville is a home-
grader with Middle
Tennessee Home Education
Association. His sponsor is
the Crossings Nashville
Action Partnership, Antioch.
227 Matthew J. Prus of
Cohutta, Georgia, is a
home-schooled 11-year-
old 6th grader. His sponsor
is the Chattanooga Times
Free Press.
228 Hayden McCuan of
Jackson is a 12-year-
Christian Academy. His
sponsor is The Jackson
Sun and Union University.
229 Naama Friedman of
Knoxville is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Bearden
Middle School. Her
sponsor is the Knoxville
News Sentinel.
230 Dwight M. Moore, Jr.
of Collierville is a 13-year-
old 8th grader at Central
Day School. His sponsor
is The Commercial Appeal,
Memphis.
231 Maria Victoria
Kaltchenko of Tupelo,
Mississippi, is a 12-year-old
7th grader at Tupelo Middle
The Commercial Appeal,
Memphis.
233 Krishna J. Gandhi of
Woodward, Oklahoma, is
at Mooreland Junior/
Senior High School. Her
sponsor is the Amarillo
Globe-News.
234 Claire Margaret
Thomas of Portland is
Incarnate Word Academy.
Her sponsor is the Corpus
Christi Caller-Times.
TEXAS
232 Kate Miller of Abilene
is a home-schooled 14-year-
old 8th grader with Big
Country Home Educators.
Her sponsor is the Abilene
Reporter-News.
235 Lokesh Nagineni
of Flower Mound is a
at Lamar Middle School.
His sponsor is The Dallas
Morning News.
236 Melody Grace
Harwood of Silver City,
New Mexico, is an
at La Plata Middle
School. Her sponsor
is the El Paso Times.
237 Ansun Sujoe of Fort
Worth is a 13-year-old
7th grader at Bethesda
Christian School. His
sponsor is Texas Christian
University, Fort Worth.
238 Shobha Dasari of
Pearland is a 13-year-old
7th grader at Pearland
Junior High West. Her
sponsor is Houston
Public Media.
244 Kara Paige Lehnert
of Sweetwater is a
at Sweetwater Middle
the Odessa American.
245 Kasey Cuenca Torres of
San Angelo is a 9-year-old
3rd grader at Cornerstone
Christian School. His
sponsor is the San Angelo
Standard-Times.
246 Nikhita Pathapati
of San Antonio is a
at Keystone School. Her
sponsor is the San
Antonio Express-News.
247 Muriel Margaret
Cotman of Cuero is a
home-schooled 13-
year-old 7th grader
with The Acorn School.
Her sponsor is the
Victoria Advocate.
248 Anna M. Turner of
Woodway is a 14-year-
old 7th grader at Midway
Middle School. Her
sponsor is BBVA
Compass Bank, Waco.
U.S. VIRGIN
ISLANDS
250 Manav A. Thadani of
St. Thomas is a 13-year-
old 8th grader at Antilles
The Virgin Islands Daily
News, St. Thomas.
239 Syamantak Payra
of Friendswood is a
Westbrook Intermediate
Houston Public Media.
240 Mary Joy Li-Ann D.
Patricio of Laredo is a
at United Middle School.
Her sponsor is the
Laredo Morning Times.
241 Rena Morrell of
Snyder is a 12-year-old
7th grader at Snyder
sponsor is the Lubbock
Avalanche-Journal.
242 Stephanie Nicole
Garza of Rio Grande
City is a 14-year-old 8th
grader at Veterans Middle
School. Her sponsor is Rio
Grande Valley AIM Media
Texas, McAllen.
243 Gabrielle M. Rubio
of Midland is a 13-year-
old 8th grader at Alamo
sponsor is the Midland
Reporter-Telegram.
249 Manasvi J. Reddy
of Wichita Falls is an
at Crockett Elementary
the Times Record News,
Wichita Falls.
UTAH
251 Mikayla J. Hall of
Heber City is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Rocky
Mountain Middle School.
Her sponsor is the Utah
Valley Spelling Bee, Orem.
252 Grange Monaco
Simpson of Bluff is a
Albert R. Lyman Middle
the Southeast Education
Service Center, Price.
279 Michael T. Jones of
Draper is a 13-year-old 7th
grader at Indian Hills Middle
Overstock.com, Salt Lake City.
VERMONT
253 Liam A. Lustberg
of South Burlington is a
Frederick H. Tuttle Middle
the Rutland Herald/Barre
Times-Argus.
255 Samuel T. Pereles of
Waynesboro is a 13-year-
old 7th grader at Kate
Collins Middle School. His
sponsor is The News-
Virginian and The Daily
Progress, Charlottesville.
256 Jacob Lawrence
McDaniel of Danville is a
Sacred Heart School. His
sponsor is Big Brothers
and Big Sisters, Danville.
257 Brianna Bartley of
Montross is an 11-year-
old 6th grader at Montross
Middle School. Her
sponsor is The Free Lance-
Star, Fredericksburg.
258 Brayden Kelley of
Timberville is a 13-year-
old 8th grader at J. Frank
Hillyard Middle School.
His sponsor is the
Rockingham District
Ruritans, Harrisonburg.
259 Jensen Schram of
Forest is a 14-year-old 8th
grader at New Covenant
Schools. Her sponsor is
The News & Advance,
Lynchburg.
260 Ankita Vadiala of
Manassas is a 12-year-
old 7th grader at
Stonewall Middle School.
Her sponsor is Prince
William Today, Manassas.
261 Ted Hamacher of
Chesapeake is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at
Hickory Middle School.
His sponsor is The
Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk.
VIRGINIA
254 Nicole Seman of
Leesburg is a 13-year-old
7th grader at Smarts Mill
is Loudoun County Public
Schools, Ashburn.
267 George Stuart Estep of
Berryville is a home-schooled
14-year-old 8th grader with
Northern Shenandoah Valley
Homeschoolers. His sponsor
is the Boys & Girls Club of
Northern Shenandoah Valley,
Winchester.
266 Jeffrey Cho of
Gloucester is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Page
Middle School. His
sponsor is Adult Literacy
on the Middle Peninsula,
Williamsburg.
WASHINGTON
268 Buck Walling of
Republic is a 14-year-old
8th grader at Republic
the Ferry County View,
Republic.
WEST VIRGINIA
272 Varun Kukkillaya of
Charleston is a 13-year-
old 7th grader at John
Adams Middle School.
His sponsor is the
Charleston Gazette-Mail.
WISCONSIN
276 Karelyn Malliet of
Shawano is a 13-year-old
7th grader at Shawano
Community Middle
the Wisconsin State
Journal, Madison.
262 Jae Canetti of Fairfax
is a 12-year-old 6th
grader at Hunters Woods
Elementary School for
the Arts and Sciences.
His sponsor is the Fairfax
County Times, Reston.
263 Tejas Muthusamy
of Glen Allen is an
Rivers Edge Elementary
Richmond Times-Dispatch.
264 Shayley Grace Martin
of Riner is a 13-year-old 8th
grader at Floyd County High
The Roanoke Times.
265 Hadrian Reeves
of Tazewell is a 12-year-
old 6th grader at Tazewell
Middle School. Her
sponsor is Tazewell
County Fair Association.
269 Elisabeth Ince of Oak
Harbor is an 11-year-old
5th grader at Broadview
sponsor is the Skagit Valley
Herald, Mount Vernon.
270 Ta Freedman-
Susskind of Redmond is
at Lakeside Middle
Town Hall Seattle.
271 Emily K. Schneider of
Omak is a 13-year-old 7th
grader at Omak Middle
North Central Washington
Collaborative Spelling Bee,
Wenatchee.
273 George Andrew
Triplett of Elkins is a
Elkins Middle School. His
sponsor is The Clarksburg
Exponent-Telegram.
274 Raimah Hossain of
Morgantown is a 14-year-
old 8th grader at Suncrest
is The Dominion Post,
Morgantown.
275 Lillian Taylor Bischof
of Wheeling is a 13-year-
old 7th grader at Saint
Michaels School. Her
sponsor is The Catholic
Spirit, Wheeling.
WYOMING
277 Victoria Paige Allen
of Green River is a
14-year -old 8th grader
at Lincoln Middle School.
Her sponsor is the
Wyoming Community
Foundation, Laramie.
Speller 278 can be found on page 21
under Illinois.
under Utah.
under Indiana.
under Connecticut.
PAIGE KIMBLE
Executive Director
Paige is the 1981 national
champion and the 1980 runner-up
representing the El Paso Herald-
Post. She has served the program
in various capacities for the past
30 years, including 17 years as
executive director.
LEADERSHIP AND YEAR-ROUND STAFF
JANICE S. LIEBENBERG
Sponsorship and Operations
Coordinator
Janice works full-time for the program
from The E.W. Scripps Companys
corporate ofce. This is her 8th year
with the program.
ABIGAIL C. EVANS
Manager
Abi works full-time for the program
corporate ofce. This is her 4th
year with the program.
CHRIS R. KEMPER
Communications and Public
Relations Manager
Chris works full-time for the program
corporate ofce. This is his 2nd year
with the program.
CYBELLE L. WEEKS
Lead Program Manager
Cybelle works full-time for the program
with the program.
CORRIE E. LOEFFLER
Program Manager
Corrie is serving her 8th year on
the Bees permanent staff after
having served six years on Bee
Week staff. She represented the
Merced Sun-Star in the 1994, 1995
and 1996 national nals, tying for
6th place in 1996.
SALLY MCMAIN
Coordinator
Sally works full-time for the program
corporate ofce. This is her 3rd year
with the program.
LAURIE K. H. MORRIS
Editorial Coordinator
Laurie works full-time for the program
corporate ofce. This is her 2nd year
with the program.
OWEN W. SEREY
Communication Specialist
Owen works full-time for the program
corporate ofce. This is his 1st year
with the program.
NICOLE A. DITTOE
Coordinator
Nicole works full-time for the program
with the program.
THE E.W. SCRIPPS COMPANY
RICH BOEHNE
Rich is chairman, president and
chief executive ofcer of The E.W.
Scripps Company.
DR. JACQUES A. BAILLY
Pronouncer
Dr. Bailly is the 1980 national champion representing the
Rocky Mountain News. He is an associate professor of
classics at the University of Vermont. This is his 12th
year as pronouncer after having served 12 years as
associate pronouncer.
OFFICIALS
DR. BRIAN M. SIETSEMA
Associate Pronouncer
Dr. Sietsema is an ordained priest of the Greek
Orthodox Archdiocese of America and serves a parish
in Lansing, Michigan. After receiving a doctorate in
linguistics in 1989, he was the pronunciation editor
for Merriam-Webster from 1990 to 1998. This is
Dr. Sietsemas 12th year as associate pronouncer.
MARY BROOKS
Head Judge
Mrs. Brooks is a retired West Des Moines, Iowa,
educator. She has served the program in various
capacities for the past 43 years, including 27 years
as a judge and ve years as co-director.
BLAKE GIDDENS
Judge
Mr. Giddens is the 1983 national champion representing
the El Paso Herald-Post. He is a professional engineer
for a civil engineering rm in Fairfax, Virginia. This is
his 14th year as a judge after having served ve years
as auxiliary judge and four years on staff.
DR. ED LOW
Judge
Dr. Low is professor emeritus of English at the
Metropolitan State College of Denver. This is Dr. Lows
21st year as a judge. For 27 years, he has served as a
judge for the Colorado State Spelling Bee (which lasted
31 rounds this year).
GEORGE THAMPY
Judge
Mr. Thampy is the 2000 national champion representing
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He is an administrative
resident at St. Anthonys Medical Center in St. Louis,
Missouri. This is Mr. Thampys 3rd year as a judge after
having served six years on staff.
MARK BOWEN
Photographer
Mark is a professional freelance
photographer in Cincinnati, Ohio.
BRYAN BRANDEBERRY
Production Staff
Bryan is manager of Linux and
database systems for The E.W.
Scripps Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.
KAYDEE BUTTS
Production Staff
Kaydee is an executive assistant
for The E.W. Scripps Company in
Cincinnati, Ohio.
ALEX CLINE
Production Staff
Alex Cline is a program manager
Cincinnati, Ohio.
JULIE CORNWELL
Production Staff
Julie is a paralegal for The E.W.
Scripps Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.
JEFF COWENS
Production Staff
Jeff is a digital marketing manager
Cincinnati, Ohio.
DAVE GILES
Production Staff
Dave is vice president, deputy general
counsel and chief ethics officer for The
E.W. Scripps Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.
PAUL GILMAN
Stage Manager
Paul is manager of application
development for The E.W. Scripps
Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.
JEFF HASSAN
Production Staff
Jeff is managing director for
planning for The E.W. Scripps
KRISTIN HAWKINS
Production Staff
Kristin graduated from the University
of Virginia in 2009 and now works in
Russia. Kristin represented the Loudoun
Times-Mirror in the 1999, 2000 and 2001
national finals, placing 2nd in 2001.
CLINTON HESS
Production Staff
Clinton is director of IT planning
and analysis for The E.W. Scripps
BEE WEEK STAFF
BRET G. NEALIS
Production Staff
Bret is a software engineer
for Professional Consulting
Services, Inc.
SATHYA KOTHANDRAM
Production Staff
Sathya is a digital product
architect for The E.W. Scripps
ROBYN HILDAL
Media Desk Manager
Robyn is vice president of
talent and diversity for The
E.W. Scripps Company in
Cincinnati, Ohio.
ROBBIN HOLLIDAY
Production Staff
Robbin is vice president of
finance and administration for
The E.W. Scripps Company in
Cincinnati, Ohio.
MONICA HUMPHREY
Production Staff
Monica is a brand leader at
Intrinzic, Inc., a brand design
agency based in Newport,
Kentucky.
ARIELLE KASS
Production Staff
Arielle is a business reporter for
the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
in Atlanta, Georgia.
SCOTT KEMMERER
Production Staff
Scott is a systems specialist
for The E.W. Scripps Company
in Cincinnati, Ohio.
MIKE KLAWITTER
Production Staff
Mike is a manager of business
applications for The E.W. Scripps
VAGELIS V KONTOPOS
Production Staff
V is a senior manager of
compensation for The
E.W. Scripps Company in
Cincinnati, Ohio.
CHIP MAHANEY
Production Staff
Chip is senior director for
local operations (digital / TV)
VINCE MARCIANO
Production Staff
Vince is general manager of
United Feature Syndicate, part
of The E.W. Scripps Company in
Cincinnati, Ohio.
VALERIE MILLER
Production Staff
Valerie is corporate
communications manager
for The E.W. Scripps
SAMEER MISHRA
Production Staff
Sameer is an Economics
and Statistics major at
Columbia University. He is
the 2008 national champion,
representing the Journal and
Courier in Lafayette, Indiana.
KEVIN MOCH
Production Staff
Kevin is a PhD student in
Classics at the University of
California, Berkeley. He
represented North Dakota in
the 2001 and 2002 national
finals, tying for 3rd place in 2002.
AMANDA MOORE
Production Staff
Amanda is a digital product
specialist for The E.W. Scripps
ROB MORRISON
Production Staff
Rob is a systems analyst for
Cincinnati, Ohio.
BRIDGET NEALIS
Production Staff
Bridget is a personal banker
for Fifth Third Bank in
Greensburg, Indiana.
MALORIE NEALIS
Production Staff
Malorie is a student at
The Ohio State University,
studying marketing and
nutrition.
BRETT PAPPAS
Production Staff
Brett is an application architect
ERIC PEGUERO
Production Staff
Eric is senior director of
training and development for
Cincinnati, Ohio.
DAN PERSCHKE
Production Staff
Dan is a director of finance for
Cincinnati, Ohio.
JESSICA RAPPAPORT
Production Staff
Jessica is vice president of
marketing for The E.W. Scripps
CAROLE RAWLINS
Production Staff
Carol is in the corporate
communications department at
Cincinnati, Ohio.
JON REISCHEL
Production Staff
Jon is the owner of ColorNine,
a marketing consultancy based
in Mason, Ohio.
PAUL RICCOBENE
Production Staff
Paul is a network architect for
Cincinnati, Ohio.
BRIAN SCHERMERHORN
Production Staff
Brian is a program manager for
Cincinnati, Ohio.
KIM SIGALA
Production Staff
Kim is the manager of network
engineering for The E.W. Scripps
BOB STEC
Production Staff
Bob is a director of systems
engineering for The E.W. Scripps
DAVID TAYLOR
Production Staff
David is a senior personal
technology systems specialist
JENNIFER TEETS
Production Staff
Jennifer is an information security
analyst for The E.W. Scripps
BETH WELTER
Production Staff
Beth is in the corporate
communications department
at The E.W. Scripps Company
/ScrippsNationalSpellingBee /ScrippsBee #spellingbee /ScrippsBee
/ScrippsNationalSpellingBee #scrippsbee /ScrippsBee
ABOUT SCRIPPS
The E.W. Scripps Company (scripps.com) serves audiences and businesses through a growing portfolio
of television, print and digital media brands. Scripps owns 21 local television stations as well as daily
newspapers in 14 markets across the United States. It also runs an expanding collection of local and
national digital journalism and information businesses including online multi-source video news provider
Newsy. Scripps also produces television programming and runs an award-winning investigative reporting
newsroom in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1879, Scripps is focused on the stories of tomorrow.
SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE
312 Walnut Street, 28th Floor Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
BEFORE AND AFTER BEE WEEK: 513-977-3040
MEDIA DESK DURING BEE WEEK (MAY 26 MAY 30): 301-965-5591
SPELLER & SPONSOR DESK DURING BEE WEEK (MAY 26 MAY 30): 301-965-5590

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