Words given to middle-school contestants at the OC Spelling Bee on Feb. 28. Definitions directly from Merriam-Webster Online. Perestroika: the policy of economic and governmental reform instituted by Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union during the mid-1980s Irvine seventh grader Sarika Rau has been watching her big brother Amrit compete in spelling competitions - and taking notes on the words - since she was in kindergarten.