Thirty-two area students will prepare to show off their spelling skills at the 25th annual Anne Arundel County Spelling Bee on Feb. 23.

Eighteen public school students, 13 private school students, and one home-schooled student will vie to become the county champion, according to a press release. The winner will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC, to compete in the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee from May 28-30.

There will be prizes for other top spellers as well, including monetary awards from the 21st Century Education Foundation, Encyclopaedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster reference books, gift certificates, plaques, and a trophy for the winner’s school.

More than 1,500 students competed in their school’s spelling bee for the right to advance to the county competition.

The 25th annual Anne Arundel County Spelling Bee event begins at 10 a.m. on Feb. 23 in the Board Room of the Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Rd. in Annapolis.

Participants in this year’s bee are:

• Alyssa Hall, Grade 6, Annapolis Area Christian School
• Allison Skillin, Grade 7, Annapolis Middle School
• Katelyn Shibilski, Grade 7, Arundel Middle School
• Hanna Mathews, Grade 7, Brooklyn Park Middle School
• Shane Jackson, Grade 7, Central Middle School
• Mehul Sachdev, Grade 5, Chesapeake Academy
• Nathan Pipkin, Grade 7, Chesapeake Bay Homeschool Association
• Esther Lim, Grade 6, Corkran Middle School
• Katie Sullivan, Grade 7, Crofton Middle School
• Gryphyn Hart, Grade 7, George Fox Middle School
• Maia Brown, Grade 8, Indian Creek School
• Julia Leney, Grade 6, Key School
• Hunter-Ann Stemple, Grade 8, Lindale Middle School
• Bryan Hess, Grade 7, MacArthur Middle School
• Tyaraliz Pérez López, Grade 8, Marley Middle School
• Jacob Nadeau, Grade 8, Magothy River Middle School
• Promise Ohanyerenwa, Grade 8, Meade Middle School
• Isabelle Simmons, Grade 6, Montessori International
• James Novak, Grade 8, Old Mill Middle School North
• An Thai, Grade 8, Old Mill Middle School South
• Michael Howerton, Grade 6, School of the Incarnation
• Robin Roper, Grade 8, Severn River Middle School
• Saylor Willauer, Grade 7, Severn School
• Campbell Jones, Grade 7, Severna Park Middle School
• Melinda Cutler, Grade 8, Southern Middle School
• Brendan Veit, Grade 7, St. Andrew’s United Methodist Day School
• Caroline Murkey, Grade 8, St. Anne’s School of Annapolis
• Thomas Gleason, Grade 8, St. John the Evangelist
• Connor Scotton, Grade 8, St. Martin’s Lutheran School
• William Rogers, Grade 6, St. Mary's Elementary School
• Abigail Thurston, Grade 8, St. Paul’s Lutheran School
• Olivia Simmons, Grade 8, Wiley H. Bates Middle School (Returning county champion)