Christopher O’Connor, a seventh grader at St Cyril’s School in Tucson won the Arizona Educational Foundation Spelling Bee contest on Saturday. O’Connor beat out 26 other students to take home the prize from the competition held in Phoenix.
O’Connor, age 13, correctly spelled the word “temblor” in the 12th round to win. He received a trophy, $800, a dictionary, and enrollment in choice of one of 25 Rosetta Stone language programs and payment to take the College Level Examination Program/CLEP in chosen language from Harrison Middleton University.
O’Connor faced off with sixth-grader Mathews Sajan in the final round. Sajan, from Highland Lakes School in Glendale, was given the word “jejunely” and spelled it incorrectly. Jejunely is an adverb meaning juvenile, devoid of substance.
The young scholar will represent Arizona in the 86th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee held in Washington D.C. in May.
Contestants began competing in December when schools across the state held qualifying bees. Winners progressed to district bees in January and then county and regional bees in February.