Orange County has a new spelling bee champ.
Seventh-grader Sydney Tran from El Rancho Charter School took home the title Saturday after 14 rounds in the 2025 Orange County Spelling Bee. She secured the win by correctly spelling “obsecration,” a word meaning a supplicatory prayer mentioning in its appeal things or events held to be sacred.
With the victory, Sydney will represent Orange County at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. during the last week of May.
The county bee was held in two stages, beginning Monday, Feb. 24, with 137 students competing in a written portion that included 20 spelling words and five vocabulary questions. From there, 30 advanced to Saturday’s finals. The event was sponsored by The Orange County Register, which will cover travel expenses for Sydney and a chaperone to attend the national competition.
Seventh-grader Aden Nunes from Fairmont Schools’ San Juan Capistrano campus finished in second place after a strong showing alongside Sydney in the later rounds. He received a $250 prize.
Third place went to Everett Lin, an eighth-grader from Rancho San Joaquin Middle School in the Irvine Unified School District. He made it to round 8 and earned a $100 prize.
From aikido to ufology
This year’s competition featured an array of challenging words, including “tommyrot,” meaning rank foolishness or nonsense; “aikido,” a Japanese martial art that neutralizes an opponent’s attacks; and “ufology,” the study of unidentified flying objects.
For Sydney, preparation was key. She said that after finishing her homework each day, she spent extra time studying with Word Club, a mobile app from the Scripps National Spelling Bee that helps students learn words and their meanings
This was Sydney’s first time competing in the county spelling bee. Three other students from her school took part in Monday’s round.
“I feel like a lot of people say this, but it feels surreal,” she said after her victory. “I feel like it’s overused a lot, but that’s how I feel right now.”
Path to the podium
Orange County’s Spelling Bee is part of the Scripps National Spelling Bee program, inviting participants from public, private and charter schools. Students prepare by studying “Words of the Champions,” a 4,000-word guide provided by Scripps. The competition’s word lists start with these studied words before moving to more challenging, unstudied words from Merriam-Webster Unabridged, the bee’s official dictionary.
Program Coordinator Kristin Rigby said watching students take the podium and put their preparation to the test makes the event special each year.
“I love watching the students’ faces as the pronouncer says their word,” Rigby said. “Sometimes they smile and nod, making it obvious that they know the word, and other times they are super serious because they don’t. When a student doesn’t know the word but asks for the word origin, spells hesitantly, and then gets it right, it’s really fun to see their relieved reactions. One of my favorite things about my job is watching students work hard and succeed.”
More information on the Orange County Spelling Bee, including a list of finalists, is available at www.ocde.us/spellingbee.