1997

The 70th Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee took place on May 29th, 1997. It was held at the Grand Hyatt Washington, and 245 spellers participated.

Rebecca Sealfon, whose winning moment went viral for her excited shout-spelling of “euonym,” was the first home-schooled winner of the Bee.

Learn more

About the 70th Bee

Champion

Rebecca Sealfon

Brooklyn, New York

Rebecca Sealfon, age 13, sponsored by the Daily News, won the $5,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “euonym.”

Rebecca graduated from Princeton University, then completed master’s degrees at Duke University (in biology) and Columbia University (in computer science). She became a software engineer for Google and has since served in technical writing and consultant roles.

Location

Grand Hyatt Washington

at the Independence Ballroom

Winning Word

euonym(n)

YOO-uh-nim

a name well suited to the person, place or thing named.

This word is from Greek.

OFFICIALS

Directors

Reta Rose and Paige P. Kimble

Judges

  • Leroy C. Dillard
  • Mary Brooks
  • Dr. Ed Low
  • Linda Picard Wood
  • Blake Giddens

Pronouncers

  • Dr. Alex J. Cameron
  • Dr. Jacques Bailly

SPELLER ROSTER

  • J. Acheson
  • Cynthia Osheneouo Akatugba
  • Alex N. Albrecht
  • Michael Alfera
  • Chelsea Cie Allinger
  • J. Alon
  • J. Anderson
  • Matthew Asdea
  • Erica M. Austin
  • Emily B. Avery-Miller
  • Samuel Bailey, Jr.
  • Christi Baker
  • Brian C. Baker
  • Timothy Banach
  • Ray Jason Bandigas
  • Amanda Austin Barbee
  • Tasha Bartch
  • Emi E. Bays
  • Allen Beaver
  • John Dale Beety
  • Eric C. Berggren
  • Jonathan O. Beverly
  • Zach Bigalke
  • Adam Robert Blalock
  • Mark J. Blehm
  • David S. Blum
  • Cody Boisclair
  • Becky Braunstein
  • Liz Brayman
  • Ben Briggs
  • Samuel R. Bright
  • Joas Budris
  • Rivka Bukowsky
  • Eric Cady
  • Jarrett Calder
  • Andy Caldie
  • Jerusha Califiuri
  • Roxanne Caloza
  • Alex Carter
  • Emma Case
  • Arielle Castillo
  • Paul Caudill, III
  • Rachel St. Cere
  • Nicoraiya Cohen
  • Alison Elizabeth Cohen
  • Erin Elizabeth Condon
  • Doug Congdon
  • Jessica Corbin
  • Paul S. Crowley
  • Phillip M. Cunio
  • David R. Currin
  • Allison Czapracki
  • Grant C. D’Arcy
  • Jill Gonzales Damatac
  • Rachel Dart
  • Jennifer Lee Davis
  • Linesha Shamara Davis
  • Kristen Diane DeGraw
  • Briana Lyn Delaney
  • Kayleen DiMinno
  • Regina M. Dionisio
  • Brian Dombrosky
  • Beth Dorman
  • EamonJoseph Doyle
  • Brian Dunne
  • Phillip N Durkos
  • Matthew Dykstra
  • Rashaan Edwards-white
  • Matthew Adams Elkins
  • Matthew Erickson
  • Anthony Ross Fabbricatore
  • Matthew P. Farrell
  • Martha L. Fernandez
  • Lawrence F. Fernandez
  • Erin Fladmo
  • Courtney L. Glisson
  • Elisabet Gonzalez
  • Nicole Granroth
  • Corbett Graves
  • Katie L. Grayson
  • Daniel R. Green
  • Tracy L. Greenwood
  • Michael Santiago Grisolia
  • Saumya Gumidyala
  • Nivedita Gunturi
  • Rachel Leigh Hackett
  • Conor O. Haden
  • Becky J. Hammer
  • Carlos A. Hann
  • Anand Harshvardhan
  • Saad Abir Hasan
  • Haley Kate Hedlin
  • Justin D. Helphenstine
  • Michael I. Hilario
  • Abby Hinkle
  • Amy Lynn Hise
  • Brittany Joy Holmes
  • Nicole Hori
  • Sean Hou
  • Kevin J. Hyslop
  • Cheryl M. Inouye
  • Jason Andrew James
  • Nathaniel Jane-wit
  • Susan Janiszewski
  • Ted Jeon
  • LaDonna Kay Johnson
  • Michael Johnson
  • Christopher Pascual Juan
  • Shivani R. Kadakia
  • Aaron Karcher
  • Brandon A. Kennedy
  • Chanoya Kidd
  • Melissa Kim
  • Soo Kim
  • Jonathan C. King
  • Juntin M. King
  • Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster
  • Robert Kinner
  • John B. Kizer
  • Joshua C. Koon
  • Kavita P. Krishnasamy
  • William Kroll
  • Jerome Ku
  • Rachel Erica Kudrich
  • Derek Peter Kwan
  • April Ann LaLande
  • Joseph Landreneau
  • Kelly Landy
  • Sarah Legg
  • David Lehr
  • Jeremy Leigh
  • Jay Lewis-Kraitsik
  • Theodore Lim
  • Anna Lindborg
  • Feng-Yen Lindborg
  • Christine A. Lombardo
  • Chau Mai
  • Ian Christopher Mallory
  • David Gregory Mandel-Anthony
  • Joanna Mann
  • Derek Duaine Manon
  • Alexandria Marino
  • Jennifer Ashley Martin
  • Chad Marzen
  • Claire Matthews
  • Kelly Maughan
  • Peter May
  • Richard McCarthy
  • Brian Thomas McDermott
  • Sarah McGill
  • Jennifer Meyer
  • Jennifer Mezger
  • Kim Miller
  • Joanna Montali
  • Nicole Mueller
  • Erin Mulroney
  • Maja Zarah Munoz
  • Allison A. Muth
  • Johnna Myers
  • Marie Nguyen
  • Jeffrey Nguyen
  • Katie Noah
  • Robert O’Brien
  • Katherine O’Gara
  • Courtney Olson
  • Michael Ondrick
  • Kush N. Patel
  • Alana Pavuk
  • Lauren Penwell
  • Oscar G. Pleitez
  • Mandy Poe
  • Sudheer Potru
  • Michael Prokop
  • Jared Gavin Prunty
  • Joseph Carley Randle
  • Yogesh J. Raut
  • Shane E. Recksiek
  • Vasanthi “Vasu” Reddy
  • Alvin H. Regala
  • Monica M. Reicks
  • Lisa Riotta
  • Edward Lee Rocha
  • Aaron Jacob Rushton
  • Hirsh Sandesara
  • Cesar J. Santiago, Jr.
  • Shaina J. Schmeltzle
  • Keith Schonfelder
  • Roibby R. Schrum
  • Christina Schuresko
  • Alison Elizabeth Sciarrino
  • Rebecca A. Sealfon
  • Hannah Shafaat
  • Kedar Shah
  • Austin Warren Shapiro
  • Mark J. Shawhan
  • Jawaad F. Sheriff
  • Gregory Shin
  • Rashmi Singh
  • Joe Skidmore
  • Erin Slater
  • Diana Smith
  • Alfred Edgar Smith
  • Michael T. Sodia
  • Albert Sommers
  • Chad Michael Sommers
  • Doug Sparks
  • Kathryn Spruill
  • Emily Kathryn Stagg
  • Sarah N. Stroud
  • J. Sweeney
  • Meredith Taylor
  • Brittni Teter
  • Charlene Thambinayagam
  • Erin Amanda Thead
  • Vikas Thondapu
  • Marissa Toma
  • Gina Torgersen
  • Prem Murthy Trivedi
  • Nikki Tuning
  • Matt Tyson
  • Afra Ullah
  • Neil Vasan
  • Chris Vaughan
  • Vinay Viralam
  • Cindy Vosahlik
  • Jenny Vrentas
  • Evan Dowland Wade
  • Brittany Kay Walker
  • Samantha A. Weerakoon
  • Jessemae L. Welsh
  • David S. White
  • Tiffany J. Whitmore
  • Joseph N. Willett
  • Tessa L. Williams
  • Sean D. Wilson
  • Isaac C. Wilson, IV
  • Spender Adams Winters
  • Elizabeth Wood
  • Kate Woodby
  • Caroline Courtney Woods
  • Stephen Wright
  • Megan E. Yacko
  • Kelly Anne Youck
  • Maggie Zagroba
  • Frank J. Zeroski