LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A field composed of 243 young spellers will converge on the Washington D.C. area for the 100th anniversary of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Audrey Ware, an 8th grader at St. Francis De Sales in Las Vegas, is one of those spellers.
Justin Hinton spoke to her as she prepared to shine on a national stage.
"We did a class spelling bee and the winners would move on to the actual thing, but I've always wanted to do it since like 5th grade, just because I thought it would be fun," Ware said.
Her winning word that landed her in the national competition was "eucalyptus."
"When I heard the word, it was just unbelievable to me because I knew at that moment, I was going to win because I knew that word and I just mouthed, 'oh my gosh I’m gonna win,'" she said. "It wasn’t even trying to calm the nerves. It was just don’t spell it wrong. Don’t spell it wrong."
Spoiler alert: she didn't.
She says she spends about an hour a day working on spelling and vocabulary.
She also uses the spelling bee app, which quizzes her on different words and how to spell them.
Her mom says she taught herself to read at 3 and was reading chapter books in preschool, but reading isn't the only thing she loves to do.
"I also like hanging out with friends and watching TV," she said.
This will be her first time in D.C., so in addition to the competition, she's looking forward to seeing the sights and sounds of the nation's capital.
Preliminaries begin Tuesday, May 27. Audrey is contestant #134 for those wanting to track her progress. You can find all the information for this year's competition at spellingbee.com.
