BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — A Kern County student is making strides at the 100th Scripps National Spelling Bee, advancing to Round 3 of the prestigious competition in Washington, D.C.
- A Kern County student has advanced to Round 3 of the 100th Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
- The student successfully completed both the traditional spelling and vocabulary rounds.
- Round 3 involves a written test that will determine eligibility for the next stage.
- The national competition celebrates a century of academic excellence and student achievement.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
We are continuing to follow the journey of the young Kern County representative who flew all the way to Washington, D.C. for the National Scripps Spelling Bee, we’ve learned this speller is working his way up.
Enzo Paylaga is making Kern County proud as he advances to Round 3 of the 100th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. The 14-year-old is finishing 8th grade at Norris Middle School. He says that for his first time at the Bee, the events and activities have been fun and exciting.
Between competitions, Scripps News caught up with the busy young scholar, who's been making the most of his time at the historic event — but still spending plenty of time studying. "Review, like, my study words that I have on a Google Doc that's like over 100 pages." Paylaga said.
The competition follows a structured elimination format. Round One tested traditional spelling skills, with Paylaga spelling his word correctly to advance.
In Round Two, he successfully tackled the vocabulary challenge.
Now in Round Three, Paylaga faces a written test that will determine if he qualifies for the next stage of this prestigious competition.
"I feel like words that come from, like, Swedish or Danish or unknown words — or words that don't have an origin — are the ones that I feel like are going to stop me from advancing." He said.
All of Kern County is rooting for you, Enzo, and we are proud.
The 100th anniversary of the Scripps National Spelling Bee marks a significant milestone for this educational tradition that has challenged young minds for a century.
You can watch the preliminary round on Bounce XL and ION.
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