Three Charlotte-area students are among this year’s competitors in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The preliminary rounds of the bee were expected to start at 8 a.m. Wednesday in Washington. The semifinal and final rounds will be held Thursday.
In all, 278 are competing this year, including:
• Olivia Elyse Jones, a seventh-grader at Charlotte Preparatory School. She won a bee sponsored by the Observer.
• Katie M. Danis, a sixth-grader from Gaston Day School. Katie won a bee sponsored by The Gaston Gazette.
• Sierra Kathleen Parker, an eighth-grader at Shelby Middle School. She won a bee sponsored by The Shelby Star.
Students in this year’s bee range in age from 6 to 15. That includes Lori Anne Madison, 6, of Woodbridge, Va., the youngest speller ever in the bee.
