By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 6, 2024 – The stage is set for what is shaping up to be a highly exciting and competitive 96th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee that will take place at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, near Washington, D.C., from May 28 to May 30, 2024.,
This year, 245 spellers have earned their spots as national competitors by advancing through regional spelling bees, competing against students representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Department of Defense Schools in Europe. Spellers will also represent three countries outside the U.S.: The Bahamas, Canada and Ghana.
Spellers will compete in four segments of competition to determine who will take home the Scripps Cup: the Preliminaries, Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals. All rounds of competition will be broadcast on ION platforms. The two-night event begins with the Semifinals on May 29 at 8 p.m., followed by the Finals LIVE on May 30 at 8 p.m. ION is available FREE over the air, as well as on most cable, satellite and streaming providers.
The preliminaries will be held on Tuesday, May 28, from 8 a.m. to 7:40 p.m., the quarterfinals will be on Wednesday, May 29, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., the semifinals will be on Wednesday, May 29, 8p.m. to 10 p.m., and the finals will be on Thursday, May 30, from 8p.m. to 10 p.m.
The Bahamas is represented in the 2024 Scripps Spelling Bee by Aarav Balani, a 12-year-old 7th grade student at Lyford Cay International School, and Eckward Ferguson, a 12-year-old 8th grade at Central Eleuthera High School.
There’s so much more to the Scripps National Spelling Bee than the nationally-televised competition. Indeed, Bee Week 2024, which will take place at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center from May 26-31, is a week-long experience for spellers and their families that includes special events, educational workshops, excursions into Washington, D.C., and more.
I have a serious mobility problem and cannot attend the Scripps Spelling Bee sessions at the Gaylord as I have done in past years, but as the person responsible for introducing the Scripps National Spelling Bee to The Bahamas in 1998 when I was editor of The Nassau Guardian, I shall most certainly be watching the performance of our Bahamian spellers on TV and pulling hard as hell for both them to advance to the finals and one of them become the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion.
Bahamians watching the preliminaries of 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee on TV on Tuesday, May 28, will get to see very early in the competition whether our two spellers advance to the next round, given the fact that Bahamas National Spelling Bee Champion Aarav Balani is Speller Number 8 and Eckward Ferguson is Speller Number 9.
Here is a link to the MEET THE SPELLERS POST on Scripps National Spelling Bee website:
https://www.spellingbee.com/meet-the-spellers
