A 7th-grade student from Dr. Augustine Ramirez Intermediate School in the Corona-Norco Unified School District was crowned the Riverside County Spelling Bee champion and will move on to represent Riverside County at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May.
Twenty-eight students in grades four through eight from Riverside County competed in the 48th edition of the Riverside County Spelling Bee on Thursday, March 26.
Held at the Riverside County Office of Education Conference Center, the event continued for 15 rounds until Victoria Li correctly spelled “potamic” in the 15th round, and then correctly spelled “ejecta” as the winning word in the 16th round.
With her victory, Li will represent Riverside County once again at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Maryland from May 26 to May 28 at the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.
Li is no stranger to the national stage. In 2025, she was named the Riverside County Spelling Bee champion after 23 rounds of competition. At the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee, she advanced to the quarterfinals and finished in a tie for 58th place.
This year’s participants prepared by studying 4,000 words ahead of the county spelling bee. Li shared that she studies for hours each day and plans to increase her study time in preparation for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Jacob Schliekelman, a 6th-grade student from Ruth Brown Elementary School in the Palo Verde Unified School District, earned second place. Finishing in a tie for third were Aaliyah Alexander, a 7th-grade student from Granite Hills TK-8 School in Romoland School District, and Ezio Camerino, an 8th-grade student from San Gorgonio Middle School in Beaumont Unified School District.
