Evelyn Juarez was the first-ever winner of the National Spanish Spelling Bee, and today she continues to use her bilingual ...

There are 22 Texas children competing in this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, including four from North Texas. Last year’s second-place speller, 13-year-old Faizan Zaki, is back again ...

Faizan Zaki, 12, of Allen, Texas ., gestures to his family after spelling his word correctly in the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Author: BEN NUCKOLS (Associated Press) ...

He first got stung by the spelling bug in the third grade, when he came in second at his school spelling bee. Rara said from the beginning, spelling felt intuitive.

Faizan Zaki, 12, of Allen, Texas ., gestures to his family after spelling his word correctly in the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Author: BEN NUCKOLS (Associated Press) ...

Faizan Zaki, 12, of Allen, Texas ., gestures to his family after spelling his word correctly in the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Author: BEN NUCKOLS (Associated Press) ...

Faizan Zaki, 12, of Allen, Texas ., gestures to his family after spelling his word correctly in the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Author: BEN NUCKOLS (Associated Press) ...

Faizan Zaki, 12, of Allen, Texas ., gestures to his family after spelling his word correctly in the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Author: BEN NUCKOLS (Associated Press) ...