First the Teacher of the Year was from Amarillo.  And now an AISD elementary school student is representing the city at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The competition got underway today with Windsor Elementary student Olivia Chen in the nation's capitol for the competition which began today.

Contestants come from all 50 U.S. states, America Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Department of Defense schools in Europe.  Also the Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Jamaica, Japan and South Korea all sent spellers.

The competitors range in age from 9 to 15 years old.  80% are between the ages of 12 and 14.

Olivia's older sisters Ariel and Sonia competed in the Bee in 2011 and 2013.

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