Ghana’s representative to the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee says although she missed out of the ultimate prize, she got a priceless life-changing experience.

Lily Tugbah, 16, and a junior high school (JHS) student of Solidarity International School in Ashiaman could not make it beyond the second round.

The winner of the 10th edition of The Spelling Bee Ghana in February was the only contestant from Africa to take part in the 90th edition of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee in the United States brought together 291 participants from all over the U.S. and six other countries namely the Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Jamaica, Japan and South Korea.

“However, coming to America has given me a life changing experience, I have made friends that I hope I can keep and share a lot with throughout my life. I am grateful to Young Educators Foundation (YEF) for this opportunity," she said. 

The Executive Director of Youth Educator Foundation (YEF) Eugenia Tachie-Menson said was happy Ghana took part in the 90th edition of the competition although Lily missed out of the final.

“We are very certain of the life changing experience this participation has given her. The Bee is not only about winning but also about the experience it gives our young spellerbrities and we are very sure her experience will stay with her forever.”

She expressed her appreciation to all Ghanaians who supported Lily to win, the team at YEF who worked tirelessly to ensure that Lily would make it to the finals and also to all the sponsors who made the participation possible.

Lily Tugbah’s participation was made possible by South African Airways (flight ticket sponsor), DStv, ECOBANK, the United States Embassy in Accra and Indomie (title sponsor of The Spelling Bee). 

The competition was won by Ananya Vinay, a 12-year-old speller from Fresno, California, Thursday held at the Gaylord Resort and Convention Centre at National Habour Maryland, USA and presented by Kindle.

After many gruelling rounds, Vinay earned the title in round 36 when she correctly spelled “marocain,” after her she keenly contested with Rohan Rajeev who misspelled his word.

2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion

When Rajeev missed his word, deep into the championship round, Vinay spelled her word correctly, which gave her the opportunity to spell the championship word, marocain.

She receives a $40,000 cash prize and the Scripps National Spelling Bee engraved trophy presented by Scripps, a Kindle e-reader from Kindle, a $2,500 U.S. savings bond and a complete reference library from Merriam-Webster. 

She also gets a $400 of reference works including a 1768 Encyclopædia Britannica Replica Set Deluxe Edition and a three-year membership to Britannica Online Premium from Encyclopædia Britannica.

Rohan Rajeev of Edmond, Oklahoma, placed second in the competition and will receive $30,000 as his prize while Mira Dedhia of Western Springs, Illinois, who placed third in the competition will receive $20,000 as her prize.