Photo provided Brett Kuprowicz of Bridgeport has arrived in Washington, D.C., to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee beginning today. Kuprowicz, who will begin his freshman year at Bridgeport High this coming school year, will go head-to-head with top spellers from across the country and beyond.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Bridgeport’s Brett Kuprowicz had a full first day on arriving at the nation’s capital Sunday to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Brett, who has concluded his eighth-grade year at Bridgeport Middle School and will begin next school year as a freshman at Bridgeport High, did the area proud at the Belmont County Spelling Bee on Feb. 13. Cheers and well-wishes accompanied him from across the county as he prepared for the trip. Earlier this month, his class turned out for a surprise sendoff ahead of the bee.

The contest is set for today through Thursday, and Brett is getting settled in and ready to compete with more than 240 top spellers from across the country and beyond. His number is 174.

He has not been resting on his laurels since winning at the county level. He has drilled regularly in preparation for the national stage.

Sunday was a day of firsts for Brett, who set off with mother Jessica, father Noah and sister Hannah.

Jessica described their departure.

“The van picked us up at home at 2:30 a.m. It was fully decorated with little bees and streamers and a sign wishing Brett the best of luck,” she wrote in an email.

“We hopped on the Amtrak around 5 a.m. and on our way we went. The nerves were flowing as we have all never been on a train before, but it wasn’t too bad, just a lot of bumps!”

The family arrived in Washington, D.C., after 1 p.m. and headed to their hotel.

“We checked in and my goodness is it beautiful! So much to see and do and are looking forward to exploring the hotel in the coming days,” she wrote. “Brett freshened up and on to speller registration he went. There he received his swag bag and shortly after competed in the Rule the Word challenge.”

The Scripps bee will kick off the first day of competition with preliminaries from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today. Quarter finals will be from 8 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Wednesday, followed by semifinals from 8-10 p.m. that day. Finals will be 8-10 p.m. Thursday. Information about the bee and how to watch the competition is on the Scripps site at spellingbee.com.