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May 28 (UPI) -- The second round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee kicked off on Tuesday, as hundreds of young people took the stage to participate in the prestigious competition. Tuesday marked the beginning of the stage spelling portion of the event in which students from all 50 states and a handful of other countries including Canada, Germany, Japan and South Korea took part in the nationally televised competition for a $50,000 grand prize.
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A total of 562 spellers took part in the competition, which began with a preliminary written test on Monday and will continue through the finals on Thursday.
This was the second year the competition allowed spellers who did not advance by winning a regional spelling bee to participate through the so-called "RSVBee" program, which produced last year's winner Karthik Nemmani.
According to the spelling bee, 292 spellers advanced through the RSVBee program, outnumbering the 270 who advanced by winning regional bees.
The program allows spellers who lost their regional competitions to cover the cost of their own travel and lodging as well as pay a fee of $1,500, up from $750 in 2018, to compete in the national spelling bee.
"Through RSVBee we are proud to open a door that had closed, often for matters beyond the participants' control," Scripps National Spelling Bee executive director Paige Kimble told The Wall Street Journal. "It's our aim to keep the price ... as low as possible."
The competition also featured 162 returning spellers, two in their fifth appearance and nine sets of siblings competing together, including two sets of twins.
Spellers represented grades 1-8 ranging in age from 7-15, with 65 percent attending public schools.
Texas had the highest total of participants of any state or other territory competing in the spelling bee with 69.
