Ghana’s N’Adom qualifies for 2024 Scripps Spelling Bee semifinals
N’Adom Darko-Asare, a pupil of DPS International Ghana and speller number 54 has qualified to compete in the semi-final stage of the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee taking place in the United States of America (USA).
This comes after Abena Kwaffo, Giovanni Adjei and N’Adom Darko-Asare, the three spellers representing Ghana and Africa advanced to the quarter-finals of the competition after correctly spelling their spelling words in round 3 of the preliminary stage.
Last year, N’Adom Darko-Asare, Mychelle Kumah and Janice Afiba Nketsiah after placing first, second and third positions respectively in 2023 The Spelling Bee competition represented Ghana at the 95th Scripps Spelling Bee.
11-year-old Darko-Asare, the winner of the 2022 and 2023 editions of the Bee spelling contest from the DPS International Ghana, spelt her word correctly in the 17th round to claim The Spelling Bee 2023 title.
N’Adom’s winning word was “DOUROUCOULI.” Also known as a night monkey, lemurine or owl monkey, douroucouli is the world’s only truly nocturnal monkey. It can only be found in the tropical and subtropical forests of South America.
For her prize as the champion, Darko-Asare was given, $500 spending money, an engraved trophy, a fully installed DStv Explora decoder with a 6-month subscription, Indomie products, a gold medal, and GH¢300 Goil fuel vouchers.
Scheduled from May 28th to May 30th, 2024, the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee is been held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center hotel located in National Harbor, Oxon Hill, Maryland, near Washington D.C.
A total of 245 spellers qualified to compete in the 96th edition of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The youngest among the spellers is Sanil Thorat, a third grader from Fairfield Elementary Magnet School in Shreveport, Louisiana.
This year, Ghana is the only African country participating in the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee. As the only African country in the competition, Ghana has been sending spellers to compete in the US for close to 18 years now.
About Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee (formerly the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee and commonly called the National Spelling Bee) is an annual Spelling Bee held in the United States of America (USA).
The Scripps Spelling Bee is run on a not-for-profit basis by The E. W. Scripps Company and is held at a hotel or convention centre in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area during the week following Memorial Day weekend.