Jamaicans advance to Round Three of Scripps Spelling Bee

Nathaniel Stone and Assana Thompson, the two spellers representing Jamaica at the 2018 Scripps National Spelling Bee, have successfully advanced to round three of the competition, which gets under way today in Washington, United States.

Nordia Craig, manager of business development and marketing at The Gleaner, indicated that 514 spellers participated in oral competition yesterday, 452 competitors spelt correctly and advanced to Round Three, while 62 are out of the competition.

"Both our champion and independent entrant started their quest for the championship at Scripps with the preliminary tests in Round One and have progressed to the third round, which starts tomorrow (today)," she said.

"The Gleaner is always proud of its entrants to the Scripps competition, and this year, we are doubly lucky. It is great that they are providing moral support for each other," Craig adds.

Craig expects that both will continue to do well and make the country proud.

Stone of Glenmuir High School in Clarendon was the winner of The Gleaner's Children's Own Spelling Bee Competition held earlier this year, while Thompson of Ardenne High School in St Andrew placed third. Under the new RSVBee invitational programme, which allows parents to apply on behalf of their children for consideration, Thompson was chosen to join the competition.