TONTOGANY – An Otsego Junior High School sixth grader will be competing to be the top speller in the nation.

Kendall Mehl, 12, will head to Maryland next week to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

This is the first time an Otsego student has qualified for the national bee.

“We are incredibly proud of Kendall’s dedication and determination to succeed at both the regional and national levels,” said Jon Rife, junior high principal. “I am eager to see her compete on the national stage, and regardless of the outcome, we are extremely proud to call Kendall an Otsego Knight.”

She won the regional bee in April by correctly spelling “declamatory.” Her opponent misspelled “genealogical,” she said.

Kendall spends one hour a day studying the Words of the Champions guide supplied by Scripps. The guide is divided into three levels, from level One Bee with such words as sundae and amphibian to level Three Bee which includes words such as encephalitis, prognosticate and chevalier.

“I’ve spelled the word at least once, but I might not know them off the top of my head,” she said about getting through the first level.

She said she studies the words and then gets quizzed by her parents, Jessica and Andy.

They try to learn 20 words every day, Jessica Mehl said.

Kendall also went to regionals last year and placed eighth as the youngest competitor.

“I don’t think I’m going to win,” Kendall said about the national contest.

She said, though, that she’ll have two more years of eligibility to compete.

“We are just going to learn to this year,” said Jessica Mehl.

There are 245 competitors – the largest since 2019 – including six former finalists and three four-time national participants. The spellers range in age from 8 to 15.

Kendall said spelling is her best subject in school and she enjoys it the most.

She won a poetry contest held by the Grand Rapids Arts Council and said her entry was a fable on the first dog.

At Otsego, she plays trombone in the band and competes with the volleyball team.

While on the East Coast, the family plans to visit Washington, D.C., and the Smithsonian museums.

The bee, which runs from May 28-30, will air on ION. The competition will be streamed live daily with the finals airing from 8-10 p.m. on May 30.

Spellers have 90 seconds to correctly spell a word once it has been pronounced.

The winner will get $50,000 in cash from Scripps, $2,500 in cash and a reference library from Merriam-Webster and additional prizes.

Last year, a student from Florida won after correctly spelling “psammophile,” a plant or animal that prefers or thrives in sandy areas.