Ghana’s 2021 Spelling Bee National Champion, Naa Koshie ManyoPlange 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 earned the bragging rights in Round 15, when she correctly spelt the Championship word; A-M-A-X-O-P-H-O-B-IA.

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 50 United States of America, at least five other countries and territories will participate in the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Since 2008, Ghana remains the only African country to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, making Naa Koshie Manyo-Plange of The Roman Ridge School the only representative from the African continent.

The Scripps Spelling Bee won’t take the traditional format we’ve always known 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 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 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.