(upbeat funk music) (upbeat electronic music) - [Tracey] Correct.

(audience applauding) (electronic glitching) (upbeat electronic music) - I'm from Campus Promise Charter School.

- I'm a seventh-grader at MSE Atley's Middle School.

- And I'm from Georgia Huss Educational Complex.

- I attend John Marshall Elementary.

- I'm from St. Raymond of Penafort.

- I'm from Alder Avenue Middle School.

- I go to Henry H. Houston Elementary School.

- I go to Waymouth Township School.

- W-I-N-C-E, "wince."

- Correct.

- My winning word was "hurricane."

- My winning word was "natural."

- I won on the word "domesticity."

- My word to make me come here is "television."

- The winning word I spelled is "cavalier."

- I might not win, but I will try my best.

(upbeat electronic music) - Welcome to the WHYY Billy Penn "Journey to the Scripps National Spelling Bee," I'm Shirley Min.

It's classrooms like this one at McCall Elementary and Middle School where teachers prep students to participate in spelling bees.

WHYY hosted the regional spelling bee for South Jersey and Philadelphia public-school students.

We'll look back at those contests and talk to the winners heading to the bee in Washington D.C., but first, it's been around since 1925, and 100 years later, the Scripps National Spelling Bee is bigger than ever.

(dramatic whooshing) - [Narrator] This year, we celebrate 100 years of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

This competition is different.

You don't compete with each other, it's you against the word.

For 100 years, kids from all across America have come together to celebrate intellect, perseverance, and triumph.

(dramatic orchestral music) - The Scripps National Spelling Bee is the Super Bowl of spelling.

- It's the biggest spelling bee the world has ever seen.

The intensity that you get, that tension and that anticipation is as palpable as anything I've ever been around.

- Gives me a lot of joy when you see a speller get a word, and you can really see that emotion and the excitement of getting the word correct, that feeling, it's amazing.

- You're here because you love words, you're here because you have the talent and you've proved yourself.

- A lot of contests have come and gone, but the Bee is still here, and it's growing.

- Those memories that they form in the Spelling Bee competing impacts the way that they view the world.

- Beyond the lessons of hard work and perseverance that are so core to the Spelling Bee experience, for me, I think the way it's actually changed me is helping push me.

- In the end, the experiences that you gain, you're gonna look back on forever.

- This Spelling Bee has really become a fixture of American culture because it's really a celebration of dedication, of focus, of years of hard work.

- The spellers, once their experience with Scripps National Spelling Bee is over, go on to do so many more amazing things because this experience has just been sort of a springboard to all the other things that they're capable of doing.

- There's so much that's changed in this world and in this country over the last 100 years, but the fact that the Bee is still here, that's just a testament to the lasting power of the National Spelling Bee.

- [Narrator] For 100 years, the brightest young minds have taken the stage, and now, it's your turn.

Be a part of history.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Bee-loved since 1925.

- The road to the National Bee means you have to capture the top spot in your regional bee.

28 students from South Jersey vied for that slot.

- Let's begin the 2025 WHYY Billy Penn Spelling Bee, speller number one, would you please approach the microphone?

The word is "buzzworthy."

- "Buzzworthy."

B-U-Z-Z-W-O-R-T-H-Y, "buzzworthy."

- That is correct.

The word is "casserole."

- "Casserole."

C-A-S-S-E-R-O-L-E, "casserole."

- That is correct.

- "University."

U-N-I-V-E-R-S-I-T-Y, "university."

- "Essential."

E-S-S-E-N-T-I-A-L, "essential."

- "Designer."

D-E-S-I-G-N-E-R, "designer."

- The word is condiments.

- "Condiments."

C-O-N-D-I-M-E-N-T-S, "condiments."

- [Tracey] Correct.

- "Acceptance."

E-X-C-E-P-T-A-N-C-E, "acceptance."

(bell ringing) - [Tracey] I'm sorry, that is incorrect.

- "Partridge."

P-A-R-T-R-I-D-J-E. G-E. (bell ringing) - C-E-R-N-A-L?

(bell ringing) - Sorry, that is incorrect.

The word is "posterity."

The word is "diligence."

The word is "domesticity."

I'm sorry, that is incorrect.

Correct.

Correct.

Correct.

The word is "serenade."

- "Serenade."

S-E-R-E-N-A-D-E, "serenade."

- That is correct.

- "Anime."

A-N-I-M-E, "anime."

- [Tracey] "Backgammon."

- "Backgammon."

B-A-G-G-A-M-M-O-N, "backgammon."

(bell ringing) - [Tracey] I'm sorry, that is incorrect.

- H-E-I-R-E-S-S, "heiress."

- [Tracey] The word is "gymnastics."

(playful orchestral music) - "Gymnastics."

G-Y-M-N-A-S-T-I-C-S, "gymnastics."

- Correct.

The word is "assumption."

- A-S-S-U-M-P-T-I-O-N. - Correct.

The word is "deceitful."

- D-E-S-C-E-T-F-U-L?

(bell ringing) - I'm sorry, that is incorrect.

The word is "helodes."

- "Helodes."

H-E-L-O-D-E-S, "helodes."

- [Tracey] Correct.

(playful orchestral music) - S-U-G-G-I-L-L-A-T-I-O-N, "suggillation."

- Q-U-A-D-R-O-R-E-M-E, "quadrireme."

(bell ringing) - [Tracey] I'm sorry, that is incorrect.

- R-A-N-T-I-P-O-L-E, "rantipole."

- That is correct.

- Thank you.

(audience applauding) - So speller number 20, one more word for you for the championship.

The word is "apodosis."

(playful orchestral music) - "Apodosis."

(playful orchestral music) "Apodosis."

A-P-O-D-O-S-I-S, "apodosis."

- That is correct.

- Thank you!

(audience cheering) - Congratulations, speller number 20.

(audience applauding) You are the 2025 WHYY Billy Penn champion and you will represent South Jersey at the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. - Thank you so much.

(playful orchestral music) (dramatic whooshing) - After 22 rounds, 12-year-old Isaac Geremew was announced the winner.

Let's head to the William Davies Middle School in Mays Landing, New Jersey as they send off their star student to his second attempt for the top prize.

(upbeat orchestral music) - I really like the way that words can come together from these letters and create meaning, something unusual, something great.

Well, at first, I didn't really want to compete, but then, I realized that these words were very interesting and there were a lot of words in the dictionary that I didn't know yet, so I decided that, why not?

I could try continuing, and I decided that I really love these words.

They're great, and spelling is beyond amazing.

- It feels amazing, Isaac last year went up in our spelling bee against his brother... (indistinct) They went 62 rounds back and forth, so it's such an amazing family and I know they have competition even amongst themselves, but it's so amazing to have him go and represent, we couldn't have picked a better student to represent what we value here.

To have Isaac step in and take that spotlight now, it just shows what a transformation we've had here at Davies, and the amazing programs, and the time and effort that our teachers put into our students, they love them like they're their own children, and they, you know, push them to excel and make sure that those expectations are so high that they're going to keep striving to jump up and reach it.

- He's an early reader.

I remember when he know how to read before he go to preschool, so, I mean, the way he learned, actually, he did not learn A, B, C, D, actually, he learned the sounds, "Ah, bah..." - One word that I've spelled and liked is "je ne sais quoi," and that's spelled J-E-N-E-S-A-I-S-Q-U-O-I, and in French, it literally means, "I know not what," and I really like this word because it seems to convey some sort of a absolute greatness.

- Well, he is incredibly driven, there's nothing that you can put in front of Isaac that he's not going to chip away at until he figures it out, whether that be a language, he's teaching himself how to do various languages, he's also... We were talking about just reading and books, and when he knocks out a list, he wants to go and grab the next list, he's just driven.

- I actually do a lot of things.

For one, I play trumpet in the school band and I'm in the school's academic team.

Out of the academic team, we were doing a competition that's called Noetic Math Competition that you do on the computer, it's sort of a math test, and I got number one in the academic team.

- Isaac is probably the most well-rounded young man I've ever met.

Not only is he academically strong, but his character is flawless.

He's so humble, so kind, he's just a remarkable person.

- We have amazing teachers here at William Davies Middle School, they're always pushing our students to excel, the expectations are high and our kids rise to it.

- Personally, this win is, like, a signal to me that I can do great things with all the fortunate events that I've had happening to me in my life.

- So what we did, we collect all the word he misspelled, and then, those words who took him more than 30 seconds to spell, because if he takes a longer time, that means he's asking questions, so that means he's not confident what it is, so we have been reviewing those words.

- Isaac never wavers, he never has any kind of fear to, you know, excel in his academic awareness, his knowledge is impeccable, competition doesn't make him scared, he's just a shy person, so people make him a little embarrassed, but he's wonderful.

- The most important thing is he's not only driven, but he's humble in what he is doing, but there's nothing that Isaac can't do 'cause he's going to figure it out.

- I actually have some advice for people who want to make it into Scripps and go on far into the competition.

It's gonna be hard, but you can do it, I know, so keep on working hard.

(upbeat rock music) - Isaac inspires our kids every day, so this is just another way of inspiring our children.

Just that he's very driven, so when he would get done a word list, he would come running in and say, "I'm ready for my next one," and then, he would want us to spell with him, and I do not spell as great as Isaac does, so he makes fun of me.

I am extremely proud of him.

(upbeat rock music) - I think Isaac will do well, but would his teachers if they were put to the test?

Our Spelling Bee announcer, Tracey Matisak, has a few words for the teachers to spell.

- Thanks, Shirley.

The first word is "Gloucester," a county in New Jersey.

- G-L-O-U-S-T-E-R. (buzzer blaring) (Ian groaning in dismay) - "Hoboken," a city in New Jersey and the birthplace of "Ol' Blue Eyes," Frank Sinatra.

- "Hoboken," H-O-B-O-K-E-N. (bell ringing) (Mark exclaiming in excitement) Yeah, look at that.

- "Seccaucus," a town in the Garden State.

- S-E-A-C-A-U-C-A-S?

(buzzer blaring) Oh.

Okay, I guess I got it wrong.

- "Runnemede," a borough in Camden County, New Jersey.

- R-U-N-N-E-M-E-D-E. (bell ringing) (person exclaiming in excitement) (person laughing) - R-U-N-N-A-M-E-D-D-E?

(buzzer blaring) (Mark exclaiming in dismay) - That was a solid effort from William Davies.

We turn now to Philadelphia's bee.

Family, friends and educators packed in to watch 18 intense rounds of spelling before the Philly winner was declared.

- What do you say we begin the 2025 WHYY Billy Penn regional spelling bee?

Speller number two.

The word is "infirm."

- I-N-F-I-R-M. - That is correct.

- "Debunk."

D-E-B-U-N-K, "debunk."

- "Birdie."

B-I-R-D-I-E, "birdie."

- Correct.

Correct.

Correct.

- [Children] Can I have a definition?

Can you use it in a sentence?

Can I have the language of origin?

- The word is "isms."

- "Isms."

I-S-M-S, "isms."

- Correct.

- "Addle."

A-D-D-L-E?

- "Agave."

A-G-A-V-E, "agave."

- The word is "abnegation."

- "Abnegation."

A-B-N-E-G-A-T-I-O-N, "abnegation."

- Correct.

(audience applauding) The word is "Bilbo."

The word is "Chinook."

The word is "Disneyfication."

The word is "churchianity."

- C-H-U-R-C-H-I-A-N-I-T-Y, "churchianity."

- Correct.

(audience applauding) The word is "ufology."

- E-U-P-H-O-L-O-G-Y, "ufology."

(bell ringing) - [Tracey] I'm afraid that's incorrect.

- "Dalmatian."

D-A-L-M-A-T-I-O-N, "Dalmatian."

(bell ringing) - [Tracey] I'm afraid that is incorrect.

- A-U-C-T-O-C-U-N... (upbeat piano music) A-L-E-R. (bell ringing) - I'm afraid that's incorrect.

That's incorrect.

I'm afraid that's incorrect.

I'm afraid that's incorrect.

The word is "sophomoric."

- S-O-F... (upbeat piano music) M-O-R-I-C, "sophomoric."

(bell ringing) - [Tracey] I'm afraid that's incorrect.

- "Impetus."

I-M-P-E-T-U-S, "impetus."

- "Kanji."

K-A-N-J-I, "kanji."

- "Gingivitis."

G-I-N-G-I-V-I-T-I-S. - "Krypton."

K-R-Y-P-T-O-N, "krypton."

- The word is "pelf."

- Definition, please.

- It means "money, riches, wealth."

- "Pelf."

P-E-L-P-H, "pelf."

(bell ringing) - I'm afraid that's incorrect.

This word has a homonym, could be confused with another one so I'll give you the word, and the part of speech and definition.

The word is "bundt."

- "Bundt."

B-U-N-T. (bell ringing) - [Tracey] I'm afraid that is incorrect.

The word is "lidocaine."

- "Lidocaine."

L-Y-D-O-C-R-A-N, "lidocaine."

(bell ringing) - I'm afraid that is incorrect.

The word is "labyrinthine."

- May I have the definition?

- "Of or like a structure full of intricate passageways that make it difficult to find the way from the interior to the entrance, or from the entrance to the center."

- "Labyrinthine."

L-A-B-Y-R-I-N-T-H-A-N, "labyrinthine?"

(bell ringing) - I'm afraid that is incorrect.

For the championship, speller number 19, you have one more word to spell correctly, if not, we'll bring back speller number six, and the word is "Kiskadee."

- "Kiskadee."

K-I-S-K-A-D-E-E, "Kiskadee."

- That is correct, congratulations, speller number 19.

You are the 2025 Billy Penn WHYY champion.

You will represent Philadelphia at the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. Well done to all of our spellers.

(upbeat percussive music) - Congratulations to 11-year-old Jaden Jiang.

His family, fellow students and educators at the Gerard Academic Music Program are excited to see this fifth-grader realize his dream of going to nationals for the second time.

(dramatic whooshing) - My name is Jaden and I won the Philadelphia spelling bee.

- This is the second time he won the champion, so I'm not very surprised, but I'm still very exciting and happy.

- Last year, I made it to the quarter final, so this year, I'm trying...

I hope I can do better than last year.

Welcome to my school.

(indistinct) When I was very young, my mom would read me, like, stories before I went to bed and I would think this was the best part of the day, and then, back when I was in kindergarten or first grade, I started reading to myself, and in second grade, I started reading to my brother.

- The first time when he heard about spelling bee, I just said, "Oh, there's a competition called spelling bee," and he said, "Mom, I want to participate."

- Winning the spelling bee means a lot to me because I've never really felt confident until I won the spelling bee.

(upbeat horn music) - I've known Jaden since the beginning of the school year, since September 2024, and what has impressed me is his quiet strength.

Not always knowing his strengths out loud, but how he moves silently, and then, surprises all of us.

- He is very persistent, yeah, like, he do this almost every day.

- I recognize that feeling nervous is normal in the competition, especially in a spelling bee, but knowing that other spellers feel the same way as I do, I can change my mindset from fear to challenging.

- Mom communicated with us about his winnings this year, I was just like... We were all... We cheered and applauded, and, you know, I said, "We're gonna do 'Word Wednesday,' where everybody's gonna wear a word," just to help him prepare, whatever we can do to support him, that's what we're ready to do.

It absolutely inspires other students.

They play off of each other.

When they see someone reaching for things that seem unreachable, they're just...

It gives them a little bit of confidence to say, "You know what?

I can do that too."

- He is tenacious, there's no question about it, he is serious, he has...

He's here for a... Like, to do a job, for sure.

You know, he's a wonderful student, he's delightful, gets along great with his peers, he's just an all-around great kid, and so, this doesn't surprise me knowing him just for the little bit of time that we do know him, 'cause he just came to us this year in fifth grade, but he is a hard worker, and, you know, he's on a mission, and this is his lane right now, so we only expect really great things from him in the future, this and more.

- I think it gives him an opportunity to see the world beyond the classroom, the world beyond Philadelphia, to encounter students from all over, and so, those opportunities for such a young person is an amazing, amazing opportunity to grow and understand so many people from different communities.

- His journey I encouraged him a lot, you know, 4,000... More than 4,000 words, and sometimes, he want to give up and don't feel confident, so I just need to, you know, let him know that you are here and how much talent you have, and I also let him know that, you know, every hard work pays off.

- My first piece of advice would be to enjoy the process and not the result, because spelling is actually really fun.

You'll discover word patterns, meanings, and roots of the words and stuff, and my second piece of advice would be to identify misspelled words, and then, work on them so you get less overwhelmed.

- At this rate, Jaden will be prepared to take the stage.

Okay, Philly, it's your turn, here's Tracey Matisak again.

- "Pittsburgh," the Western Pennsylvania city which is the birthplace of Andy Warhol.

- P-I-T-T-B-U-R-G-H, no, no, no.

I'm sorry, can I go back?

P-I-T-T-S-B-U-R-G-H. (bell ringing) Thank you very much.

- "Schuylkill," a county in Pennsylvania and a river.

- S-C-H-U-Y-C-K-I-L-L. No, no, no.

(upbeat flute music) (Leah sighing) Oh, man, it's a word that I've watched all of my life.

(upbeat flute music) - [Person] It's a hard one.

- It is a hard one.

I'm just gonna go S-C-H-U-Y-C-K-I-L.

I might've missed a letter here, but... (buzzer blaring) - Schuylkill's one of those words I even have to double-check.

Well, that brings us to the end of "Journey to the Scripps National Spelling Bee."

Good luck to both spellers, we're rooting for you, and good night, everyone.

(dramatic whooshing) (upbeat funk music) - "Punxsutawny," a borough in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania and the name of the groundhog who predicts the weather.

- P-U-N... (upbeat funk music) K-S-A-T-O-W-N-Y?

(buzzer blaring) No!

- "Bala Cynwyd," a community in Lower Merion Township, PA. - B-A-L-A-C-Y-N-W-D. (buzzer blaring) (upbeat funk music)