Naa Koshie Manyo-Plange to contest for 2021 Scripps Spelling Bee championship

Ghana’s 2021 Spelling Bee National Champion, Naa Koshie Manyo-Plange, will compete, virtually, with 208 other Spellers across the world, vying for the 2021 Scripps Spelling Bee Championship trophy.

On Saturday 12th June, the 11-year-old will make her first appearance at the biggest spelling competition in the world— the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

At The Spelling Bee-Ghana 2021 National Finals, Naa Koshie, a student of the Roman Ridge School in Accra, earned the bragging rights in Round 15, when she correctly spelt the Championship word; A-M-A-X-O-P-H-O-B-I-A. Naa Koshie will represent Ghana as Speller number 18, following the impressive run of other Spellers from the country like Afua Ansah, Kwabena Darko-Asare and Shifa Amankwa-Gabbey

This year, aside from the United States of America, at least 5 other countries and territories will participate in the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Ghana remains the only African country to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2008  — Naa Koshie Manyo-Plange is the only representative from the African continent this year.

The Scripps Spelling Bee won’t take its traditional format where students from all over the world gather to engage in the ultimate battle of words.

As countries around the world continue to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Preliminary, Quarterfinal, and Semifinal stages of this year’s competition will be held virtually, with the final rounds hosted in person at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida, on July 8.

Only the top 10-12 Spellers who prove their mettle through the first three stages will attend the Grand Finale, with strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols. However, ESPN will broadcast all the virtual rounds of the competition live on their platforms.

The official Scripps National Spelling Bee schedule is as follows:

· Preliminaries: Saturday, June 12, 10 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. ET (2:00pm-10:30pm GMT)

· Quarterfinals: Tuesday, June 15, noon-6 p.m. (4:00pm-10pm GMT)

· Semifinals: Sunday, June 27, 7-11 p.m. (11:00pm-3:00am GMT)

· Finals: Thursday, July 8, 8-10 p.m. (12:00am-2:00am GMT)

Fans of The Spelling Bee Ghana can look forward to regular updates of the competition on our social media platforms. We wish Naa Koshie the best as the whole nation rallies behind her.

About Young Educators Foundation (YEF)

Young Educators Foundation (YEF), the organizers of The Spelling Bee Ghana, is a local NGO whose vision is to improve our youth’s lives through literacy, and champion the cause of education.

We strongly believe education cannot be limited to only what is taught in the classroom and that co-curricular activities have an essential role in the total education of our children.

About the Spelling Bee-Ghana

The Spelling Bee Ghana (TSBGH) is a literacy programme that teaches primary children between ages 8 and 13 how to improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn and understand word concepts, and develop English usage.

TSBGH is a local version of the internationally acclaimed Scripps Spelling Bee, USA.