WASHINGTON, D.C. – A seventh grader from St. Michael Catholic School in Plain Township was eliminated May 26 in the first round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Tommy Schervish, 13, of Perry Township misspelled the word “Aglaia,” who is the goddess of splendor, brilliance and brightness. It is the name of one of three mythical Greek goddesses who were known as the Charites, or the Three Graces.
This year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee is at the DAR Constitution Hall in the nation’s capital. It is located near the White House and the National Mall.
When Tommy heard his word, he asked pronouncer Brian Sietsema for “all the information, please.”
Spellers are permitted to ask for the language of origin, the part of speech, a definition and for it to be used in a sentence.
Spellers are not permitted to ask whether they are pronouncing the word correctly. The bee’s official pronouncers simply will say the word again the correct way and try to shift the speller’s pronunciation.
Tommy spelled the word “aglia,” and then walked off stage after Sietsema provided the correct spelling.
He won the Canton Repository Regional Final Spelling Bee in March after finishing second in 2025. As a seventh grader, he still has one more year of eligibility remaining. Spellers in the Scripps Bee can be 13, 14 or 15 if they are in eighth grade.
Spellers who correctly spelled their initial word were immediately given a vocabulary word as Round 2. If they correctly selected the definition, they moved on to a Round 3 written test planned for later in the afternoon.
The top scorers on the test move to the quarterfinal rounds on May 27. The semifinal rounds are later in the day May 27, and the bee’s final rounds will be May 28.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: ‘Aglaia.’ Perry Township teen eliminated from Scripps National Bee in first round
Reporting by Laura Kessel, Canton Repository / The Repository
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