By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 24, 2023 –The 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee’s two-night event will start with the Semifinals on May 31 and finish with the finals live on June 1. Tune in to ION Television at 8/7c for the word-by-word action. You can find the Bee in your area at: spellingbee.com/watch
Celestina Williams, head of the Bahamas National Spelling Bee Committee, and The Bahamas delegation that’s accompanying Bahamas Spelling Bee Champion Wes Underwood to D.C. will arrive in Washington on Sunday, May 28, Arrangements have been made for them to pay a courtesy call on His Excellency Wendall Jones, Bahamas Ambassador to the United States.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee will welcome 231 spellers to National Harbor, Maryland, from May 30 to June 1 for the national rounds of its 95th competition.
The national qualifiers advanced through local and regional bees that took place through early April. All rounds of this year’s national competition – preliminaries, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals – will take place at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.
The spellers range in age from nine to 14. Nearly 80 percent – 182 spellers – are competing in their first Scripps National Spelling Bee this year.
There are 41 spellers returning from the 2022 field and 49 spellers who have previously competed in the national competition. Two are returning finalists from the 2022 national competition: Kirsten Tiffany Santos from Houston and Surya Kapu from Salt Lake City. They tied for fifth last year.
Akash Vukoti from San Angelo, Texas, is competing in the national competition for a record sixth time. Fourteen spellers are competing in their third Scripps National Spelling Bee.
There are spellers from all 50 states. Texas has the largest representation with 21 national competitors. Ohio and California rank second largest with 15 each, followed by Illinois with 14. Eleven qualifiers are from outside the 50 United States, representing The Bahamas, Canada, Germany, Ghana, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.
The Bahamas’ Spelling Bee champion Wes Underwood is a 13-year-old student at Samuel Guy Pinder All-Age School in Spanish Wells. He is speller # 210.
Here is a link to all the spellers posted on Scripps National Spelling Bee website: https://spellingbee.com/meet-the-spellers
