Schools
McClure 7th Grader Avances to National Spelling Bee Semifinals
Western Springs student Alia Abiad will compete in the verbal portion of the of the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee semifinals at 1 p.m. Thursday.
Updated 8:09 a.m. Friday, May 31
McClure Junior High School seventh-grader Alia Abiad on Thursday was eliminated in the semifinals in the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals Finals in Washington, D.C., airing at 1 p.m. CST Thursday on ESPN.
Abiad correctly spelled the word "hypnopompic" the fifth round of the semifinals to advance to the sixth round. She misspelled "isopiestic" to be eliminated in the sixth round.
Abiad was one of 42 semifinalists to advance out of a total of 281 spellers who began the competition Tuesday.
Qualifying semifinalists had to correctly spell twice on stage Wednesday and score highest on Tuesday's computer exams. Abiad correctly spelled peccadillo and quiddity to advance to the semifinals.
Arvind Mahankali of New York, NY was the winner of the entire spelling bee. He correctly spelled "knaidel" in the 16th round of the finals to win.
Read more about Alia Abiad and her journey to the bee here.
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