Junior Jenny Solheim’s family has a history of participating in spelling bees, a history that dates back to before she was born.

In fact, if it weren’t for spelling bees, Solheim’s parents may have never met when they were only in middle school at a regional bee.

“My mom was in seventh grade and my dad was in eighth grade when they first met at the regional bee,” Solheim said. “My mom actually went to the national spelling bee twice. I think she was there when she was in sixth grade and eighth grade.”

Just like her parents, Solheim has become involved in spelling bees, and has seen success in the most prestigious bee, the Scripps National Spelling Bee, held annually in or near Washington D.C. around the end of May. When she was in eighth grade, Solheim won the Midwest Spelling Bee and advanced to the 2011 National Bee. At the National Bee, Solheim tied for 19th out of 275 competitors.

While her participation in spelling bees has ended, Solheim’s younger brother, Justin, also participates in spelling bees, and hopes to make it to the national bee next year.

“He won the elementary school bee in fifth and sixth grade,” Solheim said. “And this year he was in the district spelling bee and came in second.”

Justin came in second to eighth grader Grace Johanningsmeier, who went on to win the Midwest Regional Bee, thus qualifying for the National Bee. The Midwest Bee was held March 15 at the Omaha Public Schools Teacher Administrative Center.

Johanningsmeier, like Solheim, has other family members who have participated and been successful in spelling bees. Her older sister, senior Emma Johanningsmeier, won the Midwest Regional Spelling Bee in 2010, and tied for 20th in the National Bee.

To prepare for the bees, Grace practices with binders of words that Emma used to use when she did spelling bees. Grace said understanding different languages and etymologies is also key to being successful in spelling bees. She has been studying Greek and Latin roots lately to prepare for the National Bee next month.

“In the national bee there are vocabulary rounds where you have to know the definition of words,” Grace said. “And knowing the roots will really help because then I can figure out what the words mean even if I don’t know them.”

Grace takes Spanish at the middle school, which she thinks connects to English well. The Johanningsmeiers also lived in Germany when Grace was in first grade, and she thinks learning German spelling rules helped her to understand them in English more, too.

For any layperson watching the National Bee for the first time, they may be shocked to see some of the movements spellers make to figure out the spelling of the word. A few  practices for participants to determine the spelling of words are tracing it on their arm or whispering it into their hands. Grace uses finger spelling.

“Finger spelling is like sign language,” Grace said. “I’ve never seen other kids spell like that, but I think when I was little I was just interested in finger spelling, and learned the alphabet, and I think it’s just helpful because when I study words and there’s no one to ask me the words, then I have a way of actually remembering it instead of just reading it.”

Grace’s parents have been there to help her prepare for the National Bee this year, but she mostly studies and practices on her own. She thinks that reading very frequently has contributed to her success in spelling bees, because it allows her to really comprehend words and their meanings in a deeper way.

As for the national bee in June, Grace has set a high goal for herself. While some participants are there for the experience, Grace is hoping to be successful in the competition.

“I went to D.C when Emma was in the bee, so I’m really looking forward to the experience and meeting all the people and everything,” Grace said. “But I would also like to do well.”