Two Finalists Will Advance to Scripps National Spelling Bee
WHAT: Fifty-three spellers representing grades second through eighth from 1,060 schools in 34 Texas counties will go letter-to-letter at the 2018 Houston Public Media Spelling Bee, the nation’s largest regional spelling bee on Saturday, April 7. The top two spellers will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee, the week of May 27- June 1 in the Washington, D.C. area.
WHEN: Live Competition: Starting at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, April 7
Televised Competition: 3:30 p.m., Saturday, April 14; highlights and final rounds are on TV8 and online at www.houstonpublicmedia.org/spellingbee.
Media Interview/Photo Opportunities:
- Cameras and live trucks are welcome.
- Media will have access to school auditorium during practice round and spelling bee.
- 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: Practice round
- 1:30 p.m.: Spelling Bee begins
- 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.*: Speller/parent Interviews before final rounds begin
- 7:30 – 8:00 p.m.*: Interview with Bee finalists on set immediately following competition
- *Times subject to change based on the length of bee
- Photos of finalists and news release will be distributed week of April 9.
WHERE: Baylor College of Medicine Academy at James D. Ryan Middle School, 2610 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004
WHO: Contenders to Watch:
- Pranav Chemudupaty, speller no. 42 of Pearland/Alvin – 5th in 2015 Houston Public Media Spelling Bee. Her brother, Aditya Chemudupaty, was 2009 and 2010 Houston Public Media Spelling Bee champion.
- Ian Robertson, speller no. 12 of Kingwood – 5th in 2017 Houston Public Media Spelling Bee
- Adam Latta, speller no. 3 of Missouri City
- Sahil Kulkarni, speller no. 11 of Sugar Land
- Luke Miles, speller no. 47 of Katy
- Presley Priddy, speller no. 53 of Katy
- Click here for more information on the bee, including a roster of spellers.
For live, real-time updates of the spelling bee, follow us on the Houston Public Media Facebook page and on Twitter @HoustonPubMedia using the hashtag #spellingbee.