Maria Isabel Kubabom, 13, of Accra, Ghana, is accompanied by her spelling coach Evangeline Bortey, left, and her mother, Marian Tadefa-Kubabom, at a picnic for participants in the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee and their families in McLean, Va. on Tuesday May 27, 2008. Kubabom is the first speller to attend from Ghana. The 81st version of the spelling contest will have more international flavor than ever.