Minnesota Spellers Advance in National Spelling Bee

Each year, kids from around the United States gather to spell words you probably never even heard before in hopes of claiming the Scripps National Spelling Bee title.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the competition, which is being held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. Yesterday, five kids from Minnesota advanced and will compete today in the quarterfinals for a chance to advance to the semifinals tonight and the finals tomorrow night.

Minnesota's Spelling Stars Advance

The competition started with 243 kids from around the country spelling words like "psammophile," "scherenschnitte," and "antediluvian." Only about a dozen will compete for the title of champion, and hopefully, one or all of these five Minnesota kids make it.

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The five remaining contestants include four 14-year-olds: Gemma Kim from Duluth, who attends Ordean East Middle School; Jaden Go from East Grand Forks, who goes to Sacred Heart School; Charles Mueller-Thompson from Marshall Middle School; and Emmaline Bushman from Saint John's Preparatory School in St. Cloud. Also advancing is 11-year-old Wade Salvey from Scenic Heights Elementary School in Minneapolis.

The winner receives over $50,000 in cash and several other prizes, but all the kids walk away with some sort of prize. If one of these five wins the whole thing, they will only be the second person from Minnesota to win the competition. In 2001, Sean Conley from Aitkin, Minnesota, spelled the word "succedaneum" correctly to take the title.

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