Interesting fact:

Did you know that more than 11 million students will participate in the 2015-16 Scripps National Spelling Bee? The very first contest in 1925 only had nine spellers! The majority of the 285 final contestants of the 2015 Bee were in the eighth grade. Since 1978 the Bee has welcomed participants from outside the US – in 2016 there were participants from Jamaica, Japan and South Korea among others.