More Than Half Of Participants At This Year's National Spelling Bee Paid To Participate

CHICAGO (CBS) -- We'll spell it out for you -- the intense world of spelling bees sure has changed since Hinsdale's Dr. Balu Natarajan won the national title in 1985.

"The caliber of the competition has just grown," Natarajan said. "Somone who won back in the 80s probably had a word bank that they knew of somewhere between 5 and 20,000 words. The kids now, the one who ultimately wins, probably knows between 80 and 100,000 words."

His son, 7th grader Atman Balakrishnan, is competing at the national level for a second year in a row.

"I want to continue in the footsteps of my dad," Atman said. "I wake up very early in the morning, like 4 o'clock, and I study from then until breakfast and school."

River North's Will Farrell III, another returning competitor, also studies word origins. His winning word from last year was "Ichthyosaurus".

The bee boom has produced more qualified participants than just a single winner per competition. Now, the Scripps National Spelling Bee, in what it calls a step toward fairness, is offering spots to runner-up contestants if parents are willing to pay a $1,500 fee. It's called "RSVBee" and includes Farrell plus 10 of Illinois's 26 spellers this year. Last year's big winner was also an "RSVBee" speller.

At this year's spelling bee, there are 562 participants, 292 of which are "RSVBee" spellers.

Atman qualified outright, but his father defends "RSVBee".

"I think that there are certainly a number of kids out there who might be in a tough market where there's really stiff competition and so this, I think, levels the playing field," Natarajan said.

"We all say that we're competing against the dictionary, not necessarily against each other," Atman added.

Both Atman and Will thank their families for helping them prepare for the bee. Incidentally, last year they both tied for the 42nd spot. That's no small achievement in a field that is hundreds strong.