We introduced you to home-schooled spelling whiz, Lori Anne Madison in mid-March. At the time the incredibly poised 6-year-old vanquished students well over twice her age to win Virginia’s Prince William County Spelling Bee, qualifying for the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee.
In the competition beginning today and running through Thursday, she will compete as one of 278 students who have qualified for the top spelling event — now in its 85th year. The competition doesn’t have a lower age limit, but no one younger than 8 has ever previously qualified for the nationals.
The super spellers come from all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Europe; as well as the Bahamas, Canada, China, Ghana, Jamaica, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.
Read Lori Anne’s impressive résumé here.
Scripps National Spelling Bee round results will be posted on HERE in real time on Wednesday and Thursday. Live updates and results also will be posted on both days via Twitter@ScrippsBee.
Thursday’s semifinals will not include the youngest speller in bee history, 6-year-old Lori Anne Madison of Lake Ridge, Va., although she made a valiant effort. Lori Anne misspelled one of her two words during the preliminary rounds — “ingluvies,” which she started with an “e” — and her score on Tuesday’s 50-word computer test wasn’t enough to make up the difference.
“It was close,” said spelling bee director Paige Kimball.
We hope to see this great little girl back next time around. Her pluck along with diligent determination and hard work gave us all a new little heroine to admire.
Home Schoolers beat out the public school contestants in the Georgraphy Bee, also.
The public schools are far too interested in their left-wing unions than they are in teaching students. They say so themselves.