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Local student begins Spelling Bee competition

Posted at 11:15 AM, May 24, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-24 12:15:08-04

A Menomonee Falls student begins her journey Tuesday to try and become the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion.

Thirteen-year-old Veronica Goveas, a 7th-grade student at North Middle High School, took the preliminary written test Tuesday morning in Washington, D.C. 

The students were asked to answer 26 spelling and vocabulary questions. Those scores, combined with the on-stage portion Wednesday, will determine the finalists.

Goveas, who practices with a dictionary that contains 466,000 words, won the regional and state spelling bees to earn her way onto the big stage at the nation's capitol.

Before she left last week, Goveas told TODAY's TMJ4 that she has a few tricks of her own to stay cool under the intense pressure.

"When I'm up there spelling the word I try to look at a blank wall or see if I can find a familiar face," Goveas said.

The spellers will also spend time Tuesday touring the city.