Speller’s Journey Shows How Tough National Bee Has Become

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Shaheer Imam never thought it would take so long to get back to the National Spelling Bee.
The 13-year-old from Catonsville, Maryland, made his first appearance during Barack Obama’s first term as president. Shaheer was just eight years old, and he spelled “capricious” and “quinzaine” correctly on stage.
The following year, he went to a new school that didn’t participate in the Scripps bee program. In 5th grade, he was home-schooled