Seattle 7th Grader Raven Amrhein Reaches 2026 Scripps Bee as Washington Sends 1 Speller
Updated
Updated · KUOW News and Information · May 23
Seattle 7th Grader Raven Amrhein Reaches 2026 Scripps Bee as Washington Sends 1 Speller
1 articles · Updated · KUOW News and Information · May 23
Raven Amrhein, a seventh grader at Seattle’s Hamilton Middle School, will represent Washington in the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee when preliminaries begin May 26 in Washington, D.C.
30 minutes to 2 hours of weekday study — and 1 to 2 hours or more on weekends — helped Amrhein win the Scripps regional bee for King and Snohomish counties.
Hyperlexia and a stem-based approach to words have shaped Amrhein’s spelling strategy, including study of Latin, Greek, French and Italian roots.
Washington is sending just 1 competitor this year, compared with Idaho’s 3 and California’s 24, leaving Amrhein as the state’s lone entrant.
1990 champion Amy King remains the only Washingtonian to win the national title and has urged Amrhein to stay present and not overstudy during bee week.
How does a condition like hyperlexia become a competitive superpower on the national spelling bee stage?
Will a new sports-style broadcast change the pressure and experience for the young spellers?
In an age of autocorrect, what is the true value of being an elite speller for today's youth?