Roscoe 6th grader begins competition at 96th Scripps National Spelling Bee
The 96th Scripps National Spelling Bee has a local flavor with 6th grader Ananya Joshi from Roscoe Middle School.
Now that the Memorial Day holiday is past, its time for the 96th Scripps Spelling Bee. Local winner 6th grader Ananya Joshi from Roscoe Middle School competes against 244 other spellers from competitions representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Department of Defense Schools in Europe.
Ananya Joshi won the 40th Annual Regional Spelling Bee held at Harlem High School Auditorium on March 6, 2024, having competed as a 5th grader the year before.
The preliminary round of the National Spelling Bee started on Tuesday May 28,2024 at 7 a.m. CT. Unfortunately, Ananya was eliminated in the first round when she spelled "saeta" as "sieta." The definition: "an unaccompanied partly improvised piercing Andalusian song of lamentation or penitence sung during the religious procession on Good Friday."
But as a 12 year old sixth grader, Ananya has two more chances to win the National Spelling Bee.
Quarterfinals start on Wednesday May 29 at 7 am CT. Semifinals take place Wednesday night from 8 pm. The finals for the 96th Scripps Spelling Bee is Thursday May 30 at 8 pm on ION TV.
TUNE INTO ION TV or watch locally:
- Charter 618
- Comcast 238, 1038
- Mediacom 86
- DIRECT TV 305
- DISH 250
More about the Spelling Bee
Ananya’s sister Avani Joshi was also the Regional Spelling Bee winner in 2019 and 2021, and placed 7th in the National Spelling Bee in 2021.
This time last year, another RMS student, Julissa Negron, was competing in the semifinals at the 2023 National Spelling Bee, tying for 22nd place.
