"I just want to come here and have fun," said Katie Bohrer, of Bunker Hill, W.Va., who turns 13 on Friday. "All my friends are like, 'You should have a party if you win.' I'm like, 'There are other good spellers that have been studying since the beginning of the year.' I don't know if that completely frazzles their brain or if they can stand it."

Perhaps no one has a better understanding of the two perspectives than Helen Evans, mother of Matthew and Hannah Evans. Matthew was a five-year participant who drove himself hard and was tearful when he didn't win as one of the favorites last year. Now that Matthew's too old, 13-year-old sister Hannah won their local bee in New Mexico and is competing this year with a more mellow approach.

"With Matthew it was kind of a lifestyle. It consumed him," Helen Evans said. "Hannah wasn't sure if she wanted to do it or not. We didn't push her. She knew how much work it was, so she didn't decide until late fall that she wanted to do it."

She has big brother to help. Matthew displayed a sheet of paper outlining a "spelling rewards program" he designed to motivate Hannah to learn more words. She can earn things like iTunes downloads or drinks and desserts from Sonic, "up to $4 in value." Brotherly hugs, of course, are free.

"I don't know if I've learned as much as he did," Hannah said. "I definitely don't know as much, but I would like to make it past the written test."