1992 champion Amanda Goad and 2005 champion Anurag Kashyap won the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament in 1996 and 2008, respectively.
- 15 Days
- 7 Hours
- 40 Min.
- This year we welcome 278 spellers from the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Europe; as well as the Bahamas, Canada, China, Ghana, Jamaica, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.
- Bee Week 2012 marks the first visit to the nation’s capital for 93 spellers.
- Six-year-old Lori Anne Madison, Speller 269 from Woodbridge, Virginia, is the youngest speller in this year's competition — and the youngest speller on record with the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
- The spellers range in age from 6 to 15 years old, but 84% are between the ages of 12 and 14 years old.
- Three 2011 championship finalists — Nabeel Rahman, Arvind Mahankali and Samuel Estep — are among this year's field of competitors.
- Parents and family members serve as coaches for 238 spellers.
- This year's group of competitors is 48.9% boys and 51.1% girls.
- Math is named as a favorite subject by 110 of this year's spellers. Science is the next most popular subject.
- Twenty spellers have at least one relative who has competed in previous national finals.
- The spellers' favorite words include cwm, serendipity and humuhumunukunukuapuaa.
