WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mr. Theo Neilly, Bahamas Consul General to Washington, D.C., is pictured with Bahamas National Spelling Bee Champion Johnathan Randall and his mother Stella Randall at the Gaylord Resort and Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland, near Washington, D.C., where the 2018 Scripps National Spelling Bee was held May 29 to June 1. Randall, a 12-year-old Central Eleuthera High School student, correctly spelt both of his on-stage words, but did not advance to the final rounds. This year, a record number of 516 spellers participated in the Scripps Bee — a huge increase from the 291 that competed in 2017 — as a result of a new RSVBee invitation-only program launched last year. The 2018 National Spelling Bee Champion Karthik Nemmani, a 14-year-old speller from McKinney, Texas, participated in the competition as a result of an RSVBee invitation.
