Spelling bee over for North Idaho's stellar speller

The 2018 Scripps National Spelling Bee will have to go on without North Idaho's Joseph Moran.

The North Idaho Home Educators Association sixth-grader went out while spelling his second on-stage word Wednesday morning when he misspelled the word "conventicle."

"It was fun anyway, even though I missed the word," Joseph said via text from Washington, D.C. "I want to thank the paper for sponsoring me and my mom for helping me practice."

His mom, Sally, said yes, they're disappointed, "but there is always next year."