WASHINGTON – A Martha’s Vineyard 5th grader had a successful first day at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
11-year-old Jasper Ralph of Aquinnah correctly spelled the word faiblesse, a French term for weakness.
Ralph needs to answer a word correctly Wednesday to open up a potential trip to the finals Thursday.
Participants need to spell two words correctly onstage to qualify for the finals, a field of 50 that is then determined by the best scores from a written test.
Ralph, a student at the West Tisbury School, won the Martha’s Vineyard Schools spelling bee in March, punching a ticket to the national tournament. The winning word was “fatigue.”
Ralph was one of 519 initial participants at the tournament and was one of 7 students from Massachusetts.
According to the Scripps National Spelling Bee website, Ralph’s favorite book is Charlotte’s Web.