Photo credit: Kuulpeeps.com/Ghana
February marks the start of regional spelling bee competitions across the country and in other parts of the world. Winners of these events, which could represent a city, a county, a state or an entire country, advance to compete in the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
To recognize the local events and the sponsors who make them possible, the Bee will highlight a few competitions each week and feature some of the winners.
The very first bee was in Ghana, Africa, where hundreds of students battled the dictionary for the chance to travel to the U.S. and the honor to represent their country. This is the 12th year for the program, which is sponsored by Young Educators Foundation. It draws tremendous interest from students all over the country. In the sixth and final round, Kwabena Adu Darko-Asare, an eighth-grader from Delhi Public School International, won the trophy, earning cheers from his family, his school and his country.
Photo credit: Ronald W.
Erdrich/Reporter-News
On the same day, spellers an ocean away in Texas gathered for the 20th Big Country Spelling Bee, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Abilene. A total of 23 students earned spots in the regional competition. By the ninth round, just two spellers remained, Neila Carias and Sanay Salvi. Their back-and-forth battle continued for 18 more rounds. Carias, a student from Clack Middle School, correctly spelled “serviette” to capture the title. Her knowledge of rules for French-derived words gave her the confidence to add “-te” at the end. Her assigned No. 1 on her placard turned out to be an excellent predictor of her performance.
Although just one champion was crowned, organizers recognized the accomplishments of all the spellers. In its coverage, the Abilene Reporter News quoted Kiwanis President Randy Roewe as saying, “You’re all champions from your schools. You earned the right to be on this stage. You’re the top 1 percent of spellers.”
Photo credit: Matthew Christian/
Morning News
Traveling back east to Florence, South Carolina, a second-place finish last year was all the motivation Jacob Mijalli needed to work hard this year in preparation for the Pee Dee Education Center’s regional spelling bee. The seventh-grader from Latta Middle School competed with more than 50 spellers from 16 area school districts. He correctly spelled “magnanimous” to earn a paid trip to the national finals in May in National Harbor, Maryland.
Photo credit: The Gleaner
Rounding out the week, we take you to Jamaica, where 11-year-old Darian Douglas topped 13 other spellers to win a trophy, high praise and a trip to the national finals. His winning word was “spavined.” Jamaica is very proud of its spelling legacy. In 1998, Jody-Anne Maxwell earned celebrity status when she won the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and she remains the only speller from outside the U.S. to have won the Bee.
Check back each week as we share more success stories from spellers whose journeys are taking them to the nation’s capital.
To read the local stories on each of these competitions, use these links:
Ghana Regional Spelling Bee
Big Country Spelling Bee in Abilene, Texas
Pee Dee Education Center Regional Bee in Florence, South Carolina
The Gleaner's Children's Own Spelling Bee in Jamaica