Aian Najarila walked matter-of-factly into the spotlight on the stage of the Walton Center. Then, Ms. Garcia’s voice reverberated throughout the hall: “Speller, your word is: traumatized.” He paused for a moment, causing a hush over the auditorium. “Traumatized. T-R-A-U-M-A-T-I-Z-E-D. Traumatized.” “That is correct.” Ms. Garcia announced, and the crowd erupted in applause.
On January 28th, 2026, Preuss held its annual Middle School Spelling Bee finale in the Walton Center. After each advisory held in-class competitions, four 7th graders and four 8th graders competed to crown one winner–8th grader Aian Najarila–to move on to the Scripps Regional Spelling Bee.
Najarila is now a two-time champion, having won as a 7th grader as well. Surprisingly, he barely prepared this year.
“I only wanted to go in because my friend was in it,” Najarila explained.
The spelling bee has been a Preuss tradition for over a decade. The custom has been passed down through the English department, from Ms. Majors, to Dr. Ensberg, to Ms. Hannah.
Ms. Hannah, the current event organizer, explained how the finalists are decided.
“Around November and December, the four seventh grade classes and the four eighth grade classes hold classroom competitions. Everyone has to stand up, everyone has to spell, and we go as many rounds as it takes so that there’s a class winner from each grade level.”
Students receive word packets for practice, though competition words aren’t guaranteed to appear. During the final, spellers can request for a word’s origin, definition, part of speech, and a sentence, all tools that help spellers break down unfamiliar terms.
Ms. Hannah emphasized that the spelling bee builds something beyond vocabulary.
“The reason I still keep doing it is just because it’s fun. I think we kind of forget to incorporate fun into our academics here,” she said. “Seeing just the camaraderie and community around these spellers, most middle schoolers go into it like, ‘oh my God, I don’t even care,’ but then you see everyone actually try and cheer on their peers.”
The atmosphere reflected that energy. Students waved homemade posters and exploded in cheers after each correct spelling. Ms. Hannah recalled four 8th graders from the same advisory sharing posters, cheering on others even after their classmates were eliminated.
“It helps build a sense of community and pride around academics that we kind of miss sometimes when we’re focused on grades and finals,” Mrs. Hannah elaborated.
Najarila agreed that the competition motivates students, and benefits them in the long run.
“I think it is a good motivation for some students to actually try an academic [activity]. Because it’s another achievement after all. Why wouldn’t you go for it?” Najarila expressed.
No Preuss student has made it past the early rounds of regionals, where hundreds of kids from across San Diego County compete. Aian Najarila, who lost early last year, is studying more this time.
“If I can do better this year, that would be nice,” he said.
