Kaleidoscope; quetzal; unguents- these are examples of the challenging words middle school spellers faced during this year’s New York City Scripps Spelling Bee finals. 6th grader, Charlie Kim, and 5th grader, Olivia Meyer, each competed against more than sixty champion spellers from all five boroughs. Both students went through twelve rounds and finished among the city’s top five spellers. In May, Olivia and Charlie have been invited to compete, on the national level, in the Scripps RSVBee competition in Baltimore, Maryland. We wish them heartfelt congratulations and good luck as they ascend to spelling stardom.

Story and photos provided by Ivy Leibowitz