Four Missouri Students Advance in Scripps National Spelling Bee

Remember back in grade school when you'd have to learn how to spell words. For some it was difficult, and for others it seemed like it was a breeze. I guess I was fortunate to be able to spell those words correctly. In fact, I was the third grade spelling bee champ!

The Scripps National Spelling Bee preliminaries began this past Saturday, June 12. This year's competition is designed to challenge the spellers and further advance the Bee’s focus on word knowledge and literacy.

There was eight students going into the competition from Missouri. With the preliminaries out of the way, four Missouri students advance to the quarterfinals on Tuesday June 15. They are Emaan Arshad of Park Hill, Colette Giezentanner of Webster Groves, Jiya Shetty of Columbia and Pooja Dayaratna of Farmington.

Quarterfinal coverage of the spelling bee is on ESPN 3 from 11-5 p.m. CST. It will be three rounds, completed one round at a time. After the quarterfinals it's on to the semifinals on Tuesday, June 27. This event will be from 6-10 p.m. CST on ESPN 2 and ESPN U. In this competition it will be as many rounds needed until 10-12 spellers remain.

The final coverage of the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee will be held Thursday, July 8. The event will broadcast on ESPN2 ESPN U from 7-9 p.m. It will be as many rounds needed to declare a champion.

According to information from the spellingbee.com:

Our purpose is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives.