The First Coast Spelling Bee is coming up, giving 14 local students the chance at the local title and a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May.

Local spelling star Erik Williams will compete in the quarterfinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Tuesday.

Erik Williams survived 25 rounds over three hours Monday morning to win his third straight First Coast Spelling Bee. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two titans of terminology traded words Friday morning in the finals of the First Coast Spelling Bee. The crown stayed with Erik Williams, an 8th grader from St. Johns Country Day School in Clay County, marking his third-straight First Coast Spelling Bee championship. “It’s really scary for everybody but you have to stay relaxed under pressure.”Adding an extra level of challenge to the 2021 First Coast Spelling Bee was the change in format, due to the global pandemic. Williams will now compete for the second time in the Scripps National Spelling Bee when the finals are held near Orlando in July.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The best fifth- through eighth-grade spellers from 14 counties in Northeast and North Central Florida will compete later this month in the 77th annual First Coast Spelling Bee. Rather than gathering in an auditorium, the March 29 bee will be held on Zoom. It’s Manischa Wijayawardhana of St. Johns County’s third regional bee. Armand Küykendall of Putnam County is also back for a third regional bee. The 14 county winners in the order they will compete on March 29OPEN: Details, photos of our 14 contestants

In this screenshot provided by SpellPundit, spellers and organizers of the SpellPundit Online National Spelling Bee participate in semifinals Tuesday night, May 26, 2020. The bee was launched after the Scripps National Spelling Bee was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Scripps National Spelling Bee will return this year in a mostly virtual format, with the in-person competition limited to a dozen finalists who will gather on an ESPN campus at Walt Disney World in Florida, Scripps announced Monday. Instead of compressing the entire competition into a week — spellers routinely refer to Bee Week as a highlight of their young lives — the bee will be stretched over several weeks. Virtual format notwithstanding, the bee will return to its roots as a purely oral spelling competition.

There will be no fidgeting at the National Spelling Bee microphone, no banter with pronouncer Jacques Bailly, no pointed questions about definitions or languages of origin, no dreaded bell that signals a misspelled word. This year's Scripps National Spelling Bee was canceled Tuesday, the latest beloved public event to be scrapped because of the coronavirus pandemic. The bee will return next year, Scripps said, but that's little comfort to the eighth-graders who are missing out on their last shot at the national stage. “The Scripps National Spelling Bee is an in-person live event, the same way that a basketball game is or a football game or a soccer game or a tennis match,” Kimble said. In the meantime, Simone, Navneeth and other top spellers will compete in an online bee conducted by SpellPundit on the same dates as the vacated Scripps bee.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The 14 best spellers from North Florida competed live Thursday night for a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and for the second year in a row, Erik Williams is moving on to Washington D.C. “I was pretty sure I knew what the word was, but I wanted to ask all of the questions just to make sure,” Erik said. Before his back-to-back wins, Erik was a runner-up during the First Coast Spelling Bee in 2018. The seventh grade St. Johns Country Day student appeared Friday on “The Morning Show.”RELATED | Interactive map of First Coast Spelling Bee contestantsErik defended his title at Jacksonville University’s Terry Concert Hall against some top notch competition from counties around Northeast Florida. Here are the contestants in the order that they competed, which was determined by a random drawing.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Thursday night, 14 students who earned the right to say they’re the best spellers in their counties will take the stage in the First Coast Spelling Bee. The event, held at Jacksonville University’s Terry Theatre, will be televised on Channel 4 and streamed on News4Jax.com. Here’s a preview of the students who will compete for the 2020 First Coast title and a trip to Washington D.C. to compete in the nationally-televised Scripts Spelling Bee. Vivie Thelin, 8th grader at Millhopper Montessori School in Alachua CountyElco Carrasco, 8th grader at Baker County Middle School in Baker CountyMorgan King, 7th grader at Bradford Middle School in Bradford CountyErik Williams, 7th grader at St. Johns Country Day in Clay CountyRosalie Speer, 7th grader at Fort White Middle/High School in Columbia CountyJulius Graham, 8th grader at DuPont Middle School in Duval CountyCaleb Rimpel, 8th grader at Christ the King Lutheran in Flagler CountyAshton Tabor, 7th grader at Hamilton County High School in Hamilton CountyAdyson Hammock, 6th grader at Madison County Central School in Madison CountyIan Wilking, 5th grader at St. Michael Academy in Nassau CountyArmand Küykendall, 6th grader at Miller Middle School in Putnam CountyManischa Wijayawardhana, 6th grader at Switzerland Point Middle School in St. Johns CountyIsabella (Bella) Hobday, 5th grader at Branford Elementary School in Suwannee CountyAnthony ‘AJ’ Todd, 5th grader at Lake Butler Middle School in Union CountyThis Thursday on The Morning Show, Bruce Hamilton and Melanie Lawson drew names to determine the order of appearance of these students when they compete on the state of Jacksonville University’s Terry Theatre. The First Coast Spelling Bee will be televised on Channel 4 and streamed on News4Jax.com, 8-10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Of the 26 contestants who competed in the Duval County Spelling Bee on Wednesday night, the spotlight shined brightest on Julius Graham, an eighth grader from DuPont Middle School, who spelled the winning word. You might ask, what exactly was the winning word? Also taking home a trophy was Leah Files from James Weldon Johnson Middle School, who was the first runner-up. Christopher Barrett from Kirby Smith Middle School was the second runner-up. In February, he’ll represent Duval County in the regional spelling bee, and his parents will be right there by his side.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Manischa Wijayawardhana, a sixth-grade student at Switzerland Point Middle School, won the annual St. Johns County School District Spelling Bee Wednesday at First Coast Technical College. Wijayawardhana won by spelling the word “ascension” correctly. She also won the St. Johns County Spelling Bee last year as a fifth-grader and was the runner-up in the First Coast Regional Spelling Bee. Forty-six elementary and middle school students from 31 public and five private schools competed for the chance to represent St. Johns County in the First Coast Regional Spelling Bee scheduled for Feb. 27 at Jacksonville University. The winner of the regional spelling bee will advance to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee scheduled in May in Washington, D.C.

Over the next 60 days, hundreds of elementary and high school students from 14 counties in Northeast Florida will compete for the title of the best speller in their county. Those 14 will advance to the First Coast Spelling Bee in February. That competition, televised on WJXT, will determine who will advance to represent the First Coast at the Annual Scripps Spelling Bee in Washington D.C.Here’s the schedule of the county bees. Watch for coverage of each on News4Jax as we cover the road to the 2020 First Coast Spelling Bee.