Beginning Tuesday, children from across the U.S., including several from Illinois, will take the stage and compete in the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee competition.
Fourteen students from Illinois, many in the Chicago area, will be among 231 competing for their spot in the Finals.
Preliminary rounds of the highly competitive event begin Tuesday, followed by quarter and semifinals Wednesday and the grand event - the Finals - on Thursday. But only one will take home the Scripps Cup.
Here's a look at the spellers from Illinois who will compete:
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Annette Chu, 13, of Chicago
Lukas Nowak, 12, Chicago
Emme Whitebone, 13, Chicago
Local
Srinidhi Rao, 113, Chicago
Steven Jiang, 14. Chicago
Khadijah Abdul-Rahman, 14, Decatur
Arlenn Lasko, 13, DeKalb
Mason Coulthard, 12, Freeport
Francis Nnodi, 14, Geneva
Julissa Negron, 13, Loves Park
Vishrut Kinikar, 13, McHenry
Akshay Manikandan, 13, Morris
Alex Ottens, 14, Sterling
Daphne Gil, 14, Vernon Hills
Details on how you can watch them compete can be found here.
