Ross Gallabrese READY FOR BEE — Brian Kissinger, a fifth-grader at Bishop John King Mussio Elementary School, is preparing to represent our area in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

STEUBENVILLE — Only 247 students remain in contention for the Scripps National Spelling Bee title and Francis Kissinger of Steubenville is among them.

“It feels pretty good,” Kissinger said during a break from preparing for the 101st annual bee. “It can be overwhelming. Sometimes it is hard to believe that there are only 247 kids across America in grades three through eight who have advanced.”

The fifth-grader at Bishop John King Mussio Elementary School earned his trip to Washington, D.C., on March 14 after winning the Jefferson-Harrison County Regional Spelling Bee presented by the Herald-Star. He sealed the victory by correctly spelling “genealogical,” an adjective meaning related to genealogy.

Competition in the national bee will be held at DAR Constitution Hall Tuesday through Thursday as part of Bee Week, which runs Sunday through Friday.

Kissinger, the son of Brian and Courtney Kissinger of Steubenville, said local competitions helped prepare him for the national stage.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “They really help to show you that you don’t necessarily need to be older or experienced. You just need to have a consistent memory and study a lot.”

At 11, he will be among the youngest competitors. Scripps reports there are 35 11-year-olds and 26 fifth-graders in the field. The majority of spellers are eighth-graders with 111, followed by 60 seventh-graders, 44 sixth-graders, four fourth-graders and two third-graders. Twelve 10-year-olds and four 9-year-olds also qualified.

“During orientation, I was on the chat and I wrote that I was in the fifth grade,” Kissinger said. “Someone immediately said that they were in the eighth grade. That’s when I realized how few fifth-graders there were going to be there.”

According to Scripps, three 11-year-olds have won the national championship since the first bee in 1925 and Ohio has produced nine champions.

Bee Week includes sightseeing opportunities. Kissinger said he is looking forward to attending Monday’s National Memorial Day Parade and exploring landmarks such as the Washington Monument and White House.

Preliminaries begin Tuesday with the first two rounds at 8 a.m. Spellers who advance will take a written vocabulary test at 4:30 p.m. Quarterfinals and semifinals will be held Wednesday, with finals set for 8 p.m. Thursday. The week concludes with the Bee Week Bash Friday at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Kissinger, No. 176 in the lineup, will begin his rounds at 11:10 a.m. Tuesday.

He said vocabulary rounds are a new challenge.

“I only became aware of them after the regional bee,” he said. “I was like, this isn’t just spelling, it’s vocabulary. This is the whole dictionary. It shows that you don’t just need to be good at spelling, you also need to know Greek and Latin roots and all of that.”

He prepares the same way he has for previous competitions.

“My dad reads words to me, and if I spell them right, he checks them off and if I get them wrong, he crosses them off,” Kissinger said.

His parents said they are proud of his accomplishment.

“We are super proud of him,” said Brian Kissinger. “His mother and I are very proud that he has made it this far. Even more than that, we’re proud that he stuck it out and has been persistent in studying.”

Kissinger said support from classmates and teachers has been strong.

“Everyone at the school has been very excited,” he said. “The first day after the regional bee, our principal, Theresa Danaher, came up to me and said I was the first fifth-grader to win the regional bee. I was shocked by that. Also, one of my friends, Jerome Owen, who finished ninth in the regional bee, has been especially excited. He keeps telling our friends they should organize a watch party.”

He also participates in swimming, soccer and track. His favorite subject is math, his favorite author is Rick Riordan and his favorite athlete is French soccer star Kylian Mbappé. According to Bee Keeper magazine, he has met Pope Francis five times.

The champion will receive a $50,000 cash prize, a commemorative medal and the Scripps Cup along with additional prizes from Merriam-Webster, Britannica and Delta Air Lines.

All rounds will be streamed at spellingbee.com. Semifinals will air Wednesday on ION, with the finals broadcast live Thursday night.

Kissinger will not be the only regional competitor in the field. Addie Jackson of Bridgeport, an eighth-grader at St. Mary Central School, and Caitlin Clonch of New Waterford, an eighth-grader at Crestview Middle School, also advanced.