For the second year in a row, a Berkeley County School District student will represent the Lowcountry of South Carolina in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Cate Angle, an 8th-grader at Daniel Island School, won the Spellbound! bee on Thursday evening where she faced a scrum of spellers from Charleston, Colleton and Dorchester counties. The winning word was sepulchral - relating to a tomb or internment.
Following the district bee and headed into the regional competition, Angle said she was " very confident." Her goal between January and March was to study hard and hope for the best. With a list of approximately 4,000 words, she focused on the most difficult -- all the while knowing the entire dictionary was fair game.
"I'm really proud of myself," she said. "I put a lot of work into it."
Angle didn't go into the regional bee expecting to win. Her goal was to have fun, but her confidence grew with each word she and other competitors were challenged to spell.
"I felt very prepared for the words I was given, maybe even more so than the district one," she said.
The nationally-televised Scripps bee will begin with preliminary rounds on May 28 with final competition slated for Thursday, May 30. It's held each year in Washington, D.C. and includes educational workshops, historic excursions and other special events.
"I think Bee Week is going to be a positive and fun experience," Angle said. "I am looking forward to that. I'm glad I get to participate."
Last year's bee featured 231 spellers from around the country and elsewhere in the world. The video below is an official recap of the 2023 event.