She is six years old now, but Edith Fuller was only five when she qualified to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee last March. The average 5-year-old might not be able to spell his or her name correctly at that early age. Edith is the youngest to ever qualify, and this week she is competing against some children over twice her age. Other competitors in the spelling bee held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland are 8 to 15 years old.
To qualify, Edith beat more than 50 competitors to win the 2017 Scripps Green Country Regional Spelling Bee in her hometown.
The trophy Edith won was taller than she is.
At National Spelling Bee
The Fuller family arrived in Washington, D.C. last weekend. Edith is accompanied by her parents, three younger brothers and her grandfather. The kindergartener completed a written spelling test on Tuesday and will appear on stage for the first time around noon on Wednesday. The final round of the 2017 competition will be broadcast live on ESPN on Thursday night starting at 8:30 p.m. She will be competing against 290 others.
Edith is adjusting well to her surroundings. She has met a lot of people. Valerie Miller, a spokesperson for the event said the young girl is a star in the group of other competitors. Everybody wants to meet Edith and get her autograph.
Twice before, the Scripps National Spelling Bee had two 6-year-old competitors. Akash Vukoti competed in 2012 and Lori Anne Madison competed in 2016. However, Edith is younger than they were because she turned 6 after she qualified, according to Scripps.
About Edith
Edith is from Tulsa, Oklahoma and is home-schooled. Her dad, Justin Fuller, and her mom, Annie Fuller, helped her prepare by using Scripps' study materials.
She has been studying about 20 minutes as often as five times each day. Her father says she has been reviewing the spellings and meanings of different words. She tries to examine the word roots also.
Hopefully, Edith will win or go far in the competition. Her story was on "Nightline" on ABC on Tuesday night. Whether she wins or not, she is already in the record books for winning in the regionals and for being the youngest to qualify and compete.
Meet #Speller290: Edith Fuller, the youngest speller in history, wants to be a professor of zoology https://t.co/omrptW8naJ #spellingbee
— NationalSpellingBee (@ScrippsBee) May 30, 2017
The kindergartener is not just talented in spelling. She plays the piano and sings in her church's children choir. Let's cheer Edith on as she competes. She will probably be interviewed on some of the talk shows after the spelling bee is over.
