5-year-old makes history as youngest person to qualify for Scripps National Spelling Bee
— -- A 5-year-old girl has made history as the youngest person ever to qualify for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Edith Fuller out-spelled more than 50 competitors Saturday to win the 2017 Scripps Green Country Regional Spelling Bee in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Edith, who is homeschooled, won by correctly spelling jnana, a term for knowledge in Hinduism, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
She will next compete against kids as old as 15 at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May at National Harbor, Maryland, near Washington, D.C.
“The Scripps National Spelling Bee is very proud of all of its spellers who advance and win their regional bee to qualify for the national final,” a Scripps spokesman told ABC News. “We certainly look forward to welcoming Edith Fuller and all of our more than 280 national spellers who will come to National Harbor in May to compete and enjoy a memorable Bee week.”
The youngest spellers to qualify for the Scripps National Spelling Bee prior to Edith were at least two 6-year-olds, according to the spokeswoman. More regional bees are still being held across the country in advance of the national final.
There is no minimum age to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Edith’s mom, Annie Fuller, told Tulsa World that Edith prepared for the competition by looking up the definition of each word she misspelled to learn more.
“Learning the words was so educational,” said Fuller, who could not be reached by ABC News. “She was able to learn about different countries and cultures and different kinds of food.”
The Scripps National Spelling Bee last year awarded two winners, Jairam Hathwar, 13, of Corning, New York, and Nihar Janga, 11, of Austin, Texas.
