Scripps National Spelling Bee

On this episode of Florida Matters, you’ll hear from the United Way Suncoast about summer programs and other ways to stop the so-called “summer slide.” You’ll also hear about the pressure of competitive spelling, and what the spelling bee can teach you about life, from the spelling bee coach working with winners from the area.

On this episode of Florida Matters, you’ll hear from the United Way Suncoast about summer programs and other ways to stop the so-called “summer slide.” You’ll also hear about the pressure of competitive spelling, and what the spelling bee can teach you about life, from the spelling bee coach working with winners from the area.

Friends and classmates were on hand at Tampa International Airport to welcome the seventh-grader back home.

Bruhat Soma spelled 29 words correctly in the tiebreaker. He received a trophy and more than $50,000 in cash and prizes.

Bruhat Soma has a chance to the give the Tampa Bay area back-to-back champions after Largo’s Dev Shah took the crown in 2023.

The eighth-grader beat hundreds of other spellers.

Can you spell "psammophile?" Dev Shah, 14, did, and it helped him overcome a long road to win the Scripps competition.

Dev Shah won by correctly spelling "psammophile," a noun that is used to describe animals and plants that prefer to live in sandy soil environments