Item Spelling Bee winner takes national stage

Competition has begun for 2014 Item Spelling Bee winner Mitchell Robson and 280 other contestants who have traveled to Washington, D.C., this week for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.Robson, a sixth grade student at Marblehead Community Charter School, already proved he was the best of the 62 other competitors in March?s bee at Lynn City Hall in the largest and longest Item contest yet that took 29 rounds and nearly 2? hours to complete. Robson began the national competition Tuesday morning with a computerized spelling and vocabulary test, with onstage rounds starting today on the way to Thursday?s prime-time finals. Robson will face elimination if he fails to spell a word correctly on stage today or scored poorly on Tuesday?s test.?I feel like I did pretty well,” said Robson after the test in a phone interview. “I?m hoping I get into the semifinals, but it?s not a given.”This is not Robson?s first time to the nation?s capital, but it is his first time meeting students from all over the United States, as well as from countries like Japan and Guam. He said it was “really interesting” to play catch in the hotel hallway with other contestants after seeing their profiles on the Scripps Bee website.Robson?s mother, Lena Robson, said the spellers were given “beekeepers,” small autograph books, and Mitchell Robson has been excited to exchange signatures.Lena Robson said the whole family was able to join in on the trip. The bee?s activities have kept them busy since they arrived Sunday, with an orientation, barbecue and a lecture from the chief operating officer of Merriam-Webster about the dictionary. “It was fascinating to all of us,” she said.She added that even if her son is eliminated today, the family will stay until the end of the trip as scheduled.The bee?s finals will take place Thursday at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN. The semifinals will be broadcast Thursday at 10 a.m. on ESPN2.For more information about the Bee or to view speller profiles, go to http://www.spellingbee.com.