Evans Girl Participating in Scripps National Spelling Bee
Abseil. A-b-s-e-i-l. Abseil. That was the word Bruhat Soma spelled correctly last year to win the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee. It’s that time again. And this is the 100th…
SARA DAOUD
Greenbrier Middle SchoolAbseil. A-b-s-e-i-l. Abseil.
That was the word Bruhat Soma spelled correctly last year to win the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
It's that time again. And this is the 100th anniversary of the event that brings the nation's top spellers together every year to crown the best of the best.
The first bee, which was held in 1925, had just 9 contestants in the running for the title. This year, the competition begins with 243 champions of local spelling bees from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories like Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. There will even be spellers from the Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Kuwait and Nigeria.
There are two contestants representing Georgia in the competition that begins today, and one just happens to be from Columbia County.
Sara Daoud, who just completed 7th grade at Greenbrier Middle School in Evans, was named runner-up at the 64th annual Georgia Association of Educators State Spelling Bee in Atlanta, allowing her to advance and represent the state in the national competition over the course of the next three days. In addition to a trophy, Sara received $1,000, and Apple iPad Mini, a $50 gift card to Best Buy, an online subscription dictionary to Merriam-Webster, a one-year online subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica, a 2025 U.S. Mint Proof Set, and a GAE Bee Champion lapel pin. Her expenses to the Scripps National Spelling Bee are also being covered.
Preliminaries of the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee began today at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland with the championship round to be held Thursday night.
Spellers will compete in four segments of the competition before a winner is crowned: the Preliminaries, Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals.
The second round of each segment of the competition will be a vocabulary round. The speller will be required to orally select the correct multiple choice answer to a vocabulary question read by the pronouncer. This part of the competition was designed to focus on the speller's word knowledge and literacy.
How to Watch the Spelling Bee
- Tuesday, May 27: 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on BounceXL
- Wednesday, May 28, Quarterfinals: 8:00 a.m.-12:45 p.m. onBounceXL
- Wednesday, May 28, Semifinals: 8:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. on Ion
- Thursday, May 29, Finals: 8:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. on Ion
Prizes for the Finalists and Winner
- 6th Place: $2,500
- 5th Place: $5,000
- 4th Place: $10,000
- 3rd Place: $15,000
- 2nd Place: $25,000
- Champion: $50,000
- The winner also gets a commemorative medal; the Scripps Cup, the official championship trophy of the Scripps National Spelling Bee; a $2,500 cash prize and reference library from Merriam-Webster; $400 of reference works, including a 1768 Encyclopedia Britannica Replica Set and a three-year membership to Britannica Online Premium; $1,000 Scholastic Dollars to be donated to the school of the Champion's choice in their honor; and a five-year subscription to News-O-Matic for the Champion's school.
Good luck Sara. G-o-o-d L-u-c-k S-a-r-a. Good luck Sara!
