Scripps National Spelling Bee: Meet Contestant From San Rafael

SAN RAFAEL, CA – The 92nd annual Scripps National Spelling Bee is nearly here. More than 560 children from all 50 states will vie at the Maryland event for a shot at becoming the nation’s preeminent speller, including a local competitor, Mark Salama of San Rafael, who attends Good Shepherd Lutheran School in Novato.

Mark, 13, is a seventh grader who tied for 42nd place in the 2018 competition. His father's family is from Egypt, and Mark speaks some conversational Arabic and also loves his grandma's Egyptian cooking.

Preliminary multiple-choice tests will be held Monday, May 27. Onstage spelling competitions will be held all day the following Tuesday and Wednesday, with finalists competing Thursday, May 30. No more than 50 spellers will advance to the finals Thursday.

Interested viewers can watch every word Wednesday on the Watch ESPN app. On Thursday, finalists will begin spelling on stage at 10 a.m. Eastern Time and this part of the competition will air live on ESPN 2. After the field is narrowed down to roughly a dozen finalists, ESPN will air the spelling bee finals live Thursday night.

The event will be held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. The champion will receive a $50,000 prize.

Good luck, Mark!

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--Dan Hampton, Patch, contributed to this post