Fourteen counties will send their top two spellers to compete when Mosaic Life Care Foundation hosts and sponsors the Northwest Missouri Regional Spelling Bee this weekend.
Registration for the bee will begin at EmPowerU at 518 South Sixth Street in Saint Joseph Saturday afternoon at 12:30. The competition will start at 1 o’clock.
Those spellers include the top two competitors at the Grundy County Spelling Bee: Titus Kottwitz of Trenton Middle School and Astrid Soriano of Pleasant View R-6.
Judges for the regional bee will be Jeanette Malita, Lori Witham, and Joe Marmaud. Karen Heyde-Lipanovich serves as the director and pronouncer for the competition.
The winner of the regional bee will compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee preliminary, quarterfinal, and semifinal rounds, which will be held virtually this year in the weeks leading up to the July 8th finals. The semifinals are slated for June 27th, and dates for the earlier rounds will be announced this spring.
The top 10 to 12 finalists from the semifinal rounds will go to Orlando, Florida, to compete in person at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort. The final round of the bee will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
Guidelines will be followed for visitors for Saturday’s regional bee in Saint Joseph, including temperature screenings, face mask requirements, social distancing, and hand sanitizing stations provided.
