The Gleaner's Children's Own National Spelling Bee Champion, Shari-Jo Miller, and 40 other spellers yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee competition in Washington, DC.

All 293 spellers took the Round One test at pre-assigned times on Tuesday. In the Round One test, competitors spelt 50 words using a computer keyboard. Shari-Jo misspelt one word.

In Round Two of the preliminaries, Shari-Jo spelt r-e-h-a-b-i-l-i-t-a-t-i-o-n correctly and in Round Three she correctly spelt P-i-l-p-u-l, which means penetrating investigation, disputation and drawing of conclusions.

"I am feeling very confident because I put in the work. I think I have a pretty good chance of making it," Shari-Jo told The Gleaner yesterday.

One of Shari-Jo's coaches, Reverend Glen Archer, said he was pleased with her performance.

He noted that the team has been working feverishly since it got to Washington, DC, on Saturday.

"We didn't waste any time. We put our shoulders to the wheel since we got here," Archer said.

He added: "Training is very important. She said she was about to misspell two words, but she remembered what she was told in training."

Misspelled

Semi-finalists will compete onstage between 9 a.m. and noon today. A speller is out of the competition once a word is misspelled.

Championship finalists are to compete onstage, beginning at 7 p.m.

Viewers can watch the semi-finals live on ESPN from 9 a.m. to noon today.

The championship finals are to air live on ABC from 7-9 p.m. today.

Shari-Jo Miller competes in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC, yesterday. - Photo by Bill Clarke