An eighth-grader from Tustin will be among 50 spellers who will begin competing in the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday near Washington, D.C.
Nicholas D’Sa, who attends St. Cecilia Catholic School, qualified for the finals from the original field of 562 by scoring high enough on a spelling and vocabulary test and correctly spelling two words on stage at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.
Nicholas correctly spelled nepotism, a noun meaning favoritism, as in appointment to a job, based on kinship, in the second round and macronutrient, a chemical element or substance, such as potassium or protein, that is essential in relatively large amounts to the growth and health of a living organism, in the third round.
The spellers took a multiple-choice test with 12 spelling words and 14 vocabulary questions on Monday. The test is considered the bee’s first round.
The finalists are determined by the test scores of the spellers who correctly spelled their third-round words. The finals are limited to a maximum of 50 spellers.
Spellers’ scores are plotted on a chart beginning at 36. Spellers at each consecutive scoring level are added until no more than 50 spellers are attained.
Spellers received one point for each of the 12 items correctly identified in the spelling portion of the test, one point for each of the 12 items correctly identified in the initial vocabulary section, three points for a correct answer to the lone item in the second vocabulary section, and three points for a correct answer to the lone item in the third vocabulary section.
The lowest score to advance to the finals was 30.
Nicholas earned a spot in the national bee by winning Orange County Spelling Bee. Following his victory March 2, he said he planned “to study a couple hours every day for nationals so that I can make the most of the opportunity to represent Orange County.”
A speller from Orange County has never won the national bee.
The 13-year-old is a first-degree black belt in tae kwon do and has played the piano since second grade.
The original field consisted of spellers from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, along with American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Department of Defense schools in Europe. Seven foreign nations were also represented — the Bahamas, Canada, Germany, Ghana, Jamaica, Japan and South Korea.
The winner will receive a record $50,000 cash prize, $10,000 more than last year, from Scripps, which owns television stations and newspapers.
The winner also receives $2,500 and a complete reference library from the dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster; reference works and a three-year online membership from Encyclopedia Britannica, plus trips to Hollywood to appear on the ABC late-night program “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and New York City to appear on the syndicated morning talk show “Live with Kelly and Ryan.”
Television coverage will begin at 7 a.m. on ESPN2 and the ESPN App. The prime-time portion will air from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App.
The multiple-choice Play Along version of both portions of Thursday’s coverage will be shown on ESPN U and the ESPN App.
Viewers get a one-in-four chance to pick the correct spelling of the given word and informational boxes highlighting the word’s etymology, definition, clear pronunciation and part of speech, as well as live tweets, the speller’s biography and more.
The bee is intended “to inspire children to improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives,” according to Paige Kimble, the bee’s executive director and 1981 champion.