Martha's Vineyard Student In National Spelling Bee

MARTHA'S VINEYARD, MA — C-H-A-M-P-I-O-N. Martha's Vineyard student Sam Fetters likely will not see such an easy word in this week's National Spelling Bee but it is what the 12-year-old hopes to become. The 90th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee is being held Wednesday and Thursday in Maryland and Fetters, a West Tisbury seventh-grader, is one of 291 finalists vying for the $40,000 grand prize.

(Sign up for free daily newsletters and breaking news alerts from Martha's Vineyard Patch.)

Fetters earned a spot in the competition after winning the Martha's Vineyard Times spelling contest. She is one of four Massachusetts students in the bee.

"Sam lives on the island of Martha’s Vineyard with his mom and his twin brother, John," his spelling bee biography reads. "Sam’s favorite subjects are history and science, and lately the history of computers, consoles and phones. In his spare time Sam likes to read, draw, research his favorite subjects and play video games. He also loves to sing. Last year, Sam spelled “estrangement” correctly in round three of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, but did not pass the threshold that allowed spellers to continue to the finals."

The preliminary round is Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. It is being streamed on the WatchESPN service. The first round of finals is Thursday at 10 a.m. and it will be televised on ESPN2. The second round of finals is Thursday at 8 p.m. and it will be televised on ESPN.

Photo: Sam Fetters. (Credit: spellingbee.com)