The list of words is long enough to make the average person’s head spin. And many of the words are as tricky to spell as the list is long.

Words like “capitulation,” “infinitesimal” and “ubiquitous” are among the hundreds of words four Brandywine Elementary School students might be asked to spell during next week’s Cloverleaf spelling bee at Lake Michigan College.

That is why the students have spent the past three months studying the master list after school with spelling bee coach Ruth Mitchell.

“They are all doing a really good job,” said Mitchell Thursday in the school’s library, where the students have been practicing four times a week.

This year’s competitors from Brandywine Elementary are sixth-graders Dominick Thornton and Megan Wieger, and fifth-grader Hannah Gerstler. Fourth-grader Danielle Holden is an alternate who will spell if someone drops out of the competition.

The Brandywine Elementary spellers will compete against students from more than a dozen schools in Berrien and Van Buren counties at the Cloverleaf Spelling Competition Tuesday, Feb. 24. It will take place in LMC’s Grand Upton Hall in Benton Harbor.

The top prize is admission to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. in the spring.

Brandywine Elementary School’s spellers advanced to the Cloverleaf by finishing in the top three at their school’s spelling bee, which was held in November.

Thornton took first place after spelling “Epicurean” — a word many adults would have trouble spelling correctly. And, for those wondering, the word means a disciple or student of the Greek philosopher Epicurus.

Gerstler finished second, Wieger third and Holden fourth.

Wieger has competed in the last two Cloverleaf spelling bees.

She said she is shooting for a top three finish after taking 15th place last year.

Thornton said he is looking forward to spelling on the big stage for the first time.

“I think it will be a good experience,” he said. “I just want to have fun.”

Gerstler said she received some good advice from her dad, Steve, and mother, Veronica.

“He (dad) told me ‘don’t spell it until you think it over,’” she said. “My mom told me to have fun.”

Mitchell said there is one significant change to the format of the Cloverleaf this year.

After seven rounds, spellers who are still alive will take a written test on the definition of several words. They have to get 90 percent correct to move on.