9 Florida kids are competing at the Scripps Spelling Bee. Who's representing your city?

Melissa Pérez-Carrillo, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·3 min read

It's that time of the year again, when adults give thanks to auto-correct and hundreds of kids compete to become the winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Out of 231 spellers, nine Florida kids are represented at the spelling bee. Two have made it past the fifth round of the quarterfinals and have advanced with 54 other spellers to the semifinals. Meet the spellers representing your city.

Who are the Florida spellers?

  • Fort Myers: Lizzy Beers, 14, was eliminated in the fourth round of the quarterfinals and lost on the word “baroreceptor.”

  • Jacksonville: Westin Martin, 13, was eliminated in the fifth round of the quarterfinals and lost on the word "crevasse."

  • Largo: Dev Shah, 14, advanced to the semifinals.

  • Miami: Juan Rondeau, 14, advanced to the semifinals.

  • Miami: Lancaster Gramer, 11, was eliminated in the second round of the quarterfinals and lost on the word “merino.”

  • Naples: Luke Brown, 14, was eliminated in the fourth of the quarterfinals and lost on the word “tonette.”

  • Orlando: Evander Turner, 14, was eliminated round four of the quarterfinals and lost on the word “papilionaceous.”

  • Tallahassee: Sumayya Ahmad, 11, was eliminated in the first round of the quarterfinals and lost on the word “battue.”

  • Tampa: Bruhat Soma, 11, was eliminated in the fourth round of the quarterfinals and lost on the word “tonlet.”

More on the Scripps Spelling Bee: D-R-O-U-G-H-T: It's been 23 years since Florida has had a National Spelling Bee champion

Did you know? From fish to flowers, these are the official state symbols of the Florida

What is the Scripps Spelling Bee?

Beginning in 1925, the Scripps National Spelling Bee started as a literacy program to improve reading rates at schools in the U.S. Fast forward to 2023, thousands of students have competed in the Scripps Spelling Bee, representing hundreds of cities across the country in the competition.

Students compete against each other in the preliminaries, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals for five rounds each.

Where can I watch the Scripps Spelling Bee?

You can watch the National Spelling Bee on Ion Television. It’s free and available through cable, satellite and streaming providers. The two-night event begins with the semifinals on May 31 at 8 p.m. ET and will be followed by the live finals on June 1 at 8 p.m. ET.

What's the prize if they win?

According to the Scripps National Spelling Bee website, the first place winnings include a $50,000 cash prize, a commemorative medal and the Scripps Cup, the official trophy of the spelling bee competition. The winner also receives $2,500 cash prize and a reference library from Merriam-Webster, $400 of reference works from Encyclopedia Britannica and $2,000 from Scholastic to be donated to the school of the champion's choice.

Quarterfinalists, semifinalists and finalists who were eliminated will receive a prize from the spelling bee, ranging from a $100 gift card for eliminated quarterfinalists to $25,000 for second place.

How do they come up with the competition words?

For over 50 years, the National Spelling Bee has worked with Mirriam-Webster to put together the words used in the competition. "Mirriam Webster Unabridged" is the official dictionary of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: What Florida kids are in the National Spelling Bee?