Since the 2020 Scripps National Spelling Bee’s cancellation, the Spell Pundit Online National Spelling Bee has stepped up to serve as the de facto replacement. Beginning on Saturday, May 23, the Spell Pundit Online National Spelling Bee started with over 250 participants, including many past Scripps Finalists and the most elite spellers in the world.
After the Semifinals yesterday, that field of over 250 was whittled down to the Top 16 in the world, who will participate in the Grand Finals tonight at 6pm CST. Four of those 16 have been trained in my program (seven of my students from my program sign up to participate, so over half of them remain in the competition!) That includes eighth grader Dean Alkhairy, seventh grader Akshita Balaji, seventh grader Aritra Banerjee, and sixth grader Vayun Krishna.