TAMPA, Fla. — The Scripps National Spelling Bee kicked off on Tuesday and a 12-year-old boy from Tampa has qualified for the final round at the nation's capitol.
Seventh-grader Bruhat Soma is among eight finalists, down from 245 competitors.
It's Soma's third time competing, and he's being sponsored by the Rays Baseball Foundation and Rowdies Soccer Fund. Soma is a student at Turner/Bartels K-8 School.
But he's not the only local kid to go far in the competition—last year's winner was Dev Shah, who is also from the Tampa Bay area. Shah is now a freshman at Largo High School, and he's currently in Washington, D.C. to show his support at the Bee.
Other local competitors this year included eighth-grader Jordin Oremosu and fifth-grader Amara Chepurin.
Pasco County woman trying to rebuild mobile home after hurricanes
"I cried, of course, because I've worked very hard getting it nice, which has been difficult for me since I lost my husband and being alone,” Kelly Welty said.
Welty's mobile home lost its roof during Hurricane Milton. She said it was the only one in the Buena Vista community to get totaled by a tornado.
