National Spelling Bee: Southland Students Eliminated

LOS ANGELES, CA — An eighth-grader from Torrance and a seventh-grader from Yorba Linda correctly spelled their second- and third-round words Wednesday at the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Maryland, but both were eliminated from the competition.

Jennifer Lau, an eighth-grader who attends Calle Mayor Middle School, correctly spelled exogenous, an adjective meaning due to external causes, then spelled quadruple, meaning four times as much or fourfold.

Winston Zuo, a seventh-grader at Fairmont Private Schools Historic Anaheim Campus, correctly spelled tendresse, a noun meaning fondness, then spelled tibia, a bone between the knee and ankle.

Only a maximum of 50 spellers can advance to the finals, with participants chosen based on a combination of the words spelled on stage and their scores on a test of 12 hand-written spelling words and 14 multiple-choice vocabulary questions. The test is considered the bee's first round.

Jennifer qualified for the national bee by winning the Los Angeles County Scripps Regional Spelling Bee on March 12. Her final word was ursine, an adjective meaning of, relating to or characteristic of a bear.

Jennifer finished second in the 2015 regional bee. Her older brother Timothy won the 2014 regional bee and finished 13th in the national bee.

Jennifer writes for her school newspaper, chronicling visits to new restaurants. She said her favorite subject in school is biology and she would like to pursue a career in medicine. She volunteers weekly at church.

Winston qualified by winning the Orange County Spelling Bee Feb. 25. His final word was terete, an adjective meaning slender and smooth with a circular transverse section.

Winston said he really loves reading because it makes him relax and feel happy. He also said he likes writing, is good at math and science, and loves visiting natural history and science museums.

The bee is limited to students in eighth grade or below, with contestants ranging in age from 6 to 15 years old.

The initial field of 291 spellers consisted of students who won locally sponsored bees in 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.

Six foreign nations were also represented — the Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Jamaica, Japan and South Korea.

The bee's purpose is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives, organizers said.

The winner will receive $40,000 from Scripps, which owns television stations and newspapers; a $2,500 U.S. savings bond and complete reference library from the dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster; and $400 in reference works from Encyclopaedia Britannica and a three-year membership to Britannica Online Premium, 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."

No speller from Los Angeles or Orange counties has ever won the bee.

— City News Service, photo courtesy of Scripps National Spelling Bee