The 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee kicked off Wednesday morning in Maryland.
Two students from our area were selected to join in the competition.
Jake Montgomery attends D.H.H. Lengel Middle School in Pottsville and Peter Khoudary of Dallas attends Good Shepard Academy in Kingston.
Scripps is Tweeting updates from the competition.
We learned Jake lost, misspelling numismatist, which is a term for a coin collector.
Peter also lost late Wednesday afternoon. He incorrectly spelled niacin, which is a type of vitamin.
The final round of the Scripps Spelling Bee begins Thursday at 10 a.m.
