JACKSON, Miss. – The 2019 Mississippi Spelling Bee will broadcast live at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 19 on Mississippi Public Broadcasting Television. Forty students from several school districts will compete.
The spelling bee will take place in the television studio at MPB. Due to limited seating, the bee is not open to the general public. The winner of the Mississippi competition will advance to the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee set for May 30.
The event is sponsored by the Mississippi Association of Educators. Lead judge for this year’s bee is Dr. Dennis Watts, assistant to the president of Belhaven University. Other judges are the Rev. Carol Mead, rector at St. Peter’s by-the-Lake Episcopal Church in Brandon; Amber May, programs director for Operation Shoestring; and Ercilla Dometz-Hendrix, policy analyst for the University Research Center.
See chart below for names, schools and districts of the Mississippi competitors. Get more information online at http://www.mpbonline.org/spellingbee/.
Name | Grade | Age | School Name | District |
Tavia Morris | 6th | 13 | Robert Lewis Magnet School | Natchez Adams School District |
Alexis Price | 7th | 12 | Corinth Junior High School | Corinth School District |
Madison Ash | 8th | 14 | Hickory Flat Attendance Center | Benton County School District |
Risaad Alam | 5th | 11 | Bell Elementary | Cleveland County School District |
Aiden McDill | 4th | 10 | Quitman Upper Elementary | Quitman County School District |
Elise Ellington | 8th | 14 | W. A. Higgins Academy | Clarksdale Municipal School District |
Iris Xue | 7th | 13 | Desoto Central Middle School | Desoto County School District |
Aaron Marcev | 7th | 12 | Presbyterian Christian | George County School District |
Carley Bradley | 4th | 10 | Central Elementary | George County School District |
Matthew Simpson | 7th | 12 | Saint Stanislaus | Catholic Diocese of Bay St. Louis |
Elizabeth Simpson | 5th | 10 | St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School | Catholic Diocese of Biloxi |
Sam Connelly | 8th | 13 | Homeschool | Christian Home Educators Connection |
Nathaniel Edwards | 6th | 12 | Itawamba Attendance Center | Itawamba County School District |
Kamora Hawthorne | 7th | 12 | G. W. Carver Elementary | Jefferson Davis County School District |
Lana Piercy | 5th | 10 | Moselle Elementary School | Jones County School District |
Keerthin Karthikeyan | 8th | 13 | Oxford Middle School | Oxford School District |
Yolanda Ni | 8th | 12 | Oak Grove Middle School | Lamar County School District |
Cannon Graham | 7th | 13 | West Lauderdale Middle School | Lauderdale County School District |
Buford Billie | 7th | 12 | Red Water Elementary | Choctaw Tribal Schools |
Raymond Yang | 5th | 11 | Saltillo Elementary School | Lee County School District |
Adrianna Brown | 7th | 12 | Greenwood Middle School | Greenwood Public School District |
Quinn Boerner | 8th | 13 | Alexander Junior High | Brookhaven School District |
Sidney Stegall | 8th | 14 | Heritage Academy | Lowndes County School District |
Natalia Igwebuike | 8th | 13 | St. Joseph Catholic School | National Catholic Educational |
Hayley Lowery | 3rd | 8 | West Marion Primary | Marion County School District |
Sierra Lochala | 7th | 12 | Hatley School | Monroe County School District |
Kushi Kaura | 4th | 10 | Newton County Elementary | Newton County School District |
Soyeon Parks | 8th | 14 | Armstrong Middle School | Starkville Oktibbeha School District |
Autumn Conway | 7th | 13 | Pope School | South Panola School District |
Katie Davila | 8th | 14 | Middle School of Poplarville | Poplarville Separate School District |
Kaleb Stegall | 8th | 15 | North Pontotoc Middle School | Pontotoc County School District |
Taylor Blythe | 7th | 13 | Hills Chapel | Prentiss County School District |
Eltahir Zein | 5th | 11 | Highland Bluff Elementary | Rankin County School District |
Jartavious Thornton | 8th | 14 | Mendenhall Junior High School | Simpson County School District |
Chester Burton | 5th | 11 | A.W. James Elementary School | Sunflower County School District |
Persephanie Tanna | 6th | 12 | R.H. Bearden | West Tallahatchie School District |
Ashton Rojas | 8th | 13 | Belmont School | Tishomingo County SP Municipal School District |
Christian Fonseca | 5th | 10 | New Albany Elementary | New Albany Public School District |
Lauren Cooley | 6th | 12 | Beechwood Elementary | Vicksburg Warren County School District |
Maddox Walker | 8th | 14 | Clara School | Wayne County School District |
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Mississippi Public Broadcasting provides relevant instructional and public affairs programming to Mississippians through its statewide television and radio network. MPB enhances the work of educators, students, parents and learners of all ages by providing informative programming and educational resources. MPB’s locally-produced programming focuses on the people, resources and attractions that reflect Mississippi’s unique culture and diverse heritage. Children’s television programs constitute a major portion of the daytime and weekend morning schedules. MPB provides a valuable resource to Mississippians in disseminating information as part of the state’s emergency preparedness and response system. Since 1970, MPB has won over 350 national, regional and statewide awards, including Emmy®, Edward R. Murrow and Parents’ Choice® Awards.
The Mississippi Association of Educators is comprised of Mississippi’s elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty and staff, educational support professionals, retired educators, and college students preparing to become educators. MAE is the oldest and most powerful education association in the state. Our fundamental objective is to work for improved salaries, benefits, and working conditions for all education professionals, as well as for the betterment of the Mississippi public education system.
