Local teen advances to final 50 in the National Spelling Bee! | Community Spirit

NORTH CAROLINA - One local teen moves forward with the top 50 contestants left in the  2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Marvin Ridge Middle School 8th grader Prakash Mishra has made the cut.

The final top 50 are determined by adding up scores from the spelling round (three points for every right spelling) in the oral section and one point per correct spelling in the written test taken Tuesday.

Two other local teens, Megan Lanier and Bryson McKee, earned success in the starting rounds of the spelling bee, but did not qualify to advance into the top 50.

The competiton started with 275 spellers gathered at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland to take part in the two-day competition.

Mishra, Lanier and McKee each spelled their words correctly to advance through the first two rounds of preliminary competition on Wednesday.

First Round words:
 
Prakash Mishra - Hirsutism
Megan Lanier - Tritium
Bryson McKee - Bijouterie
 
Second Round words:
 
Prakash Mishra - Impermeabilize
Megan Lanier - Verglas
Bryson McKee - Esurient

---

13-year-old Prakash Mishra from Marvin Ridge Middle School is representing The Charlotte Observer as it's winner. This isn't the 8th grader's first time at the competition, he participated in the 2010 spelling bee as well.

According to his profile on the competition's website, Prakash has written several novels and enjoys reading, especially works by Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe and T.S. Eliot. He speaks five languages, including Hindi, French, German, Spanish and English. He is passionate about academics and especially enjoys learning about history, culture and religion.

Prakash also studies Tae Kwon Do, plays both piano and drums, and loves to play hacky sack. He is a Junior Beta Club member and the Mega Math Madness first place champion.

13-year-old Megan Katherine Lanier is the lone female student from our area at the spelling bee.  She is an 8th grader at Cramerton Middle School and is representing The Gaston Gazette.

Besides being a great speller, Megan has a big interest in music and animals! According to her profile, Megan plays flute in addition to hand bells at her church and was selected to participate in a county honor band.

Her love for animals, especially her cat Casey, which is the driving force behind her aspiration to become a veterinarian.

Megan also wants to travel the world and may move to Paris, France someday. In her free time she enjoys reading, riding her bike and playing video games. Megan participates in Bible Club and Beta Club and she tutors math. In the fifth grade, she was a recipient of the Christian character award.

13-year-old Bryson McKee is a 7th grader at Burns Middle School in Lawndale and is representing The Shelby Star at the national spelling competition.

Bryson may be the youngest local competitor, but he's the most experienced!  This is his third time making the trip to the national level, after participating in the 2008 and 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bees.

Bryson loves to write and is in the process of writing his first book, according to his profile, which he hopes to get published. He is an honor student, a Battle of the Books team member and a church youth group member. Since he was in second grade, Bryson has participated in the Relay for Life. In his free time, Bryson enjoys playing drums, playing baseball and doing water sports including swimming, tubing and knee boarding.

Congrats and Good Luck to all three students!