Four students from North Texas have advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee, moving past the preliminary stage of the national competition in Washington, D.C.
The 98th edition of the spelling bee began on Tuesday and runs through Thursday at Constitution Hall, with 247 spellers competing from across the country and beyond. The competition includes students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Department of Defense schools in Europe, as well as students from five countries outside the U.S.: the Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates.
The local students who advanced range in age from 12 to 14 and represent campuses in DeSoto, Prosper, Coppell, and Burleson.
They include Benjamin Pearson, a seventh grader at the Katherine Johnson Technology Magnet Academy in DeSoto; Avishka Dudala, an eighth grader at Rogers Middle School in Prosper; Krish Manjunath, an eighth grader at Coppell Middle School East in Coppell; and Luke Sturlin, an eighth grader at Kerr Middle School in Burleson.
Ridhaan Bhattarai, 10, a fifth-grader at the Harmony School of Innovation in Euless, also participated in the national competition but was eliminated on Tuesday in Round Three of the preliminaries, which included a written spelling test. During the preliminary competition, the number of contestants was narrowed to 95, who will advance to the quarterfinals.
The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds are scheduled for Wednesday. The championship finals will be held on Thursday night.
Last year’s winner was Faizan Zaki, a Plano ISD student from Allen, who claimed the $50,000 grand prize after correctly spelling “éclaircissement.”
