Nearly 30 students from across Riverside County will test their word power Thursday in the county’s 48th annual Spelling Bee, the winner of which will earn a spot in the national contest.
“We welcome all the champions from school and district level competitions to showcase their expertise, self-discipline and poise at the annual Riverside County Spelling Bee,” Superintendent of Schools Edwin Gomez said. “I look forward to seeing who will represent the county at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May.”
The county contest will be held at the Office of Education’s conference center at 4280 Bocktown Ave. in Riverside beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday, featuring multiple rounds likely stretching over three hours for the 29 participants, who are in grades four to eight and hail from public, private and charter schools.
Last year’s champion was Victoria Li from the Philistine Rondo School of Discovery in the Corona-Norco Unified School District.
Li, who’s now in the seventh grade, will be returning to compete in this year’s meet, as will four others who matched wits with her in 2025 — Ella Brock from the Banning Unified School District, Parker Buchanan from Santa Rosa Academy, Drew Castor from the Desert Center Unified School District and Esteban Castro from the Hemet Unified School District.
The competition is open to the public.
The top-scoring speller will win a place in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, set for May 26-28 in Washington, D.C.