The Scipps National Spelling Bee is on ESPN today and tomorrow with some big changes this year!! Look for the youngest contestant ever – a little girl of 6. Also, there will be written tests at the end if there is another tie.
(Jodi explains at around 15:26)
According to TODAY,
Roughly 11 million students from the United States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Department of Defense Schools in Europe competed in local bees beforehand. The best of the best — the top 291 spellers — are advancing to the finals, according to the National Spelling Bee.
This year’s competition has already made history. In March, 5-year-old super speller Edith Fuller qualified for nationals — making her the youngest contender ever! Now she’s 6 years old and taking on the spelling bee — making her two years younger than the second-youngest contestant. You can see all of the contestants here.
The winning spellers get seriously rewarded for their knowledge — in cash prizes.
1st Place: $40,000 cash prize, $2,500 U.S. savings bond
2nd Place: $30,000
3rd Place: $20,000
4th Place: $10,000
5th Place: $5,000
6th Place: $2,500
How to watch
Starting May 31, you can see these brilliant kids put their knowledge to the test live on ESPN. Here’s the schedule:
Wednesday, May 31
Preliminaries, Round 2: 8 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Preliminaries, Round 3: 1:15 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Thursday, June 1
Finals, Part 1: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Finals, Part 2: 8:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.
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