Latest news with #Cecily
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tallahassee 13-year-old heads to Scripps National Spelling Bee. Here's when, how to watch
Tallahassee's own Cecily Dean is set to compete at the 100th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee later this month. The 13-year-old seventh-grade homeschooler is one of 12 contestants from Florida among the 243 spellers in the 97th National Spelling Bee, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year (it was skipped three times during World War II and once in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Envision Credit Union, which was founded by educators in Leon County, will be sponsoring Cecily's place in the competition. "Envision Credit Union is proud to be a regional sponsor of the Scripps Spelling Bee and celebrate the achievements of outstanding students like Cecily Dean, our 2025 Envision Credit Union Regional Spelling Bee Champion,' Andre Harris, Community Development Manager for Envision Credit Union said. 'By supporting local students like Cecily as they advance to the national stage, we're not only showcasing the strength of our community's education system but also continuing the legacy we began as a credit union founded by teachers and investing in the next generation of leaders.' This is not the first time Tallahassee has had a student compete in the national bee. Last year, Allie Windsor, a Holy Comforter Episcopal School student, competed on the national stage. In 2024, 12-year-old Bruhat Soma of St. Petersburg won the 96th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in a record-breaking 29-word spell-off. The year before, eighth-grader Dev Shah of Largo took the prize with the word "psammophile." Can the Sunshine State pull off a threepeat this year in the surprisingly watchable event? Soma and Shah, along with nearly 40 other former winners, will both be attending the 2025 finals in Maryland on May 29 to greet and sign posters, according to a release from Scripps. Soma, now an eighth-grader, will also be featured throughout "Bee Week" during the television broadcast and/or livestream. Here's what to know. Preliminaries will begin at 8 a.m. ET on Tuesday, May 27. The quarterfinals are the next day, Wednesday, May 28, the semifinals happen that same evening, and the finals will be in the evening on Thursday, May 29. Preliminaries, May 27: Will be streamed on Scripps News networks Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, and Laff More, and at from 8 a.m. to 4:40 p.m. ET Quarterfinals, May 28: Will be streamed on Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, and Laff More, and at from 8 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. ET Semifinals, May 28: Will stream live on Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, and Laff More, and at from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. ET and air 8-10 p.m. on ION Finals, May 29: Will air live from 8-10 p.m. on ION Encore presentations of the semifinals will air on Scripps News on Thursday, May 29, from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m., and of the finals on May 29 from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. The Scripps Networks can be found free over-the-air as well as on cable, satellite and streaming platforms. You can enter your ZIP code at for instructions on how to watch the Bee in a specific area. Hadi Abbasi, 12, Franklin Academy Pembroke Pines, Miami Louis Avetis, 12, Discovery Middle School, Orlando Nicasio David, 14, Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School, Fort Myers Cecily Dean, 13, Leon County Home Schoolers, Tallahassee Diego Gallegos, 11, Lakemont Elementary School, Orlando Elias Benjamin Javelona, 13, of Howard Middle School, Belleview Vlada Kozhevnikova, 12, Pinellas Academy of Math & Science, St. Petersburg Moksh Maru, 10, Wilson Elementary School, Sanford Nikhail Sha, 13, Palmetto Middle School, Miami Sophia Jolie Schoenrock, 13, Marco Island Charter Middle School, Naples Sree Vidya Siliveri, 14, Alice B. Landrum Middle School, Jacksonville Aiden Westover, 14, Odyssey Middle School, Orlando A Florida contestant has won four times in the history of the national spelling bee, according to Scripps data: Soma in 2024 on his second try, Shah in 2023 on the third try, Nupur Lala of Tampa in 1999, who won in her second appearance, and Wendy Guoy of West Palm Beach in 1996, who won after four tries. The state with the most wins is Texas, with 16. Twenty-one states have never had a national spelling bee champion. Starting in September, spelling bees in classrooms work up to regional spelling bees in February and March to determine national competitors. Spellers may not be older than 15 or past the eighth grade, and former champions may not compete again. During the spelling bee, kids compete in: Spelling rounds, where they have 90 seconds to correctly spell a word after it has been pronounced. They may ask for definitions, usage, language, the part of speech, alternate pronunciation or just to hear it again, but not in the last 15 seconds. Vocabulary rounds: Originally part of a written test, this was made an onstage element in 2021. Spellers are given 30 seconds to answer a multiple-choice question about the definition of a word. Written test: Spellers who advance through rounds 1 and 2 will take round 3 written test on spelling and vocabulary. Scores determine who moves on to the quarterfinals. Spell-offs: Introduced in 2021, officials may call for a spell-off to conclude the finals. Spellers have 90 seconds to spell as many words as possible while their competition cannot hear. Each speller gets the same words in the same order. Last year, Florida's Bruhat Soma set a record at 29 words. The champion gets $50,000 cash, a commemorative medal, and the Scripps Cup championship trophy. They will also receive $2,500 cash and a reference library from Merriam-Webster, $400 of reference works and a 3-year online membership from Encyclopædia Britannica, the school of their choice gets $1,000 in Scholastic credit, and their school and regional partner get an engraved plaque. Finalists get a commemorative medal and: Eliminated from first round of finals to 7th place: $2,000 6th place: $2,500 5th place: $5,000 4th place: $10,000 3rd place: $15,000 2nd place: $25,000 Semifinalists get a commemorative medal and a $500 gift card, and quarterfinalists get a commemorative pin and a $100 gift card. All competitors receive a prize package, subscriptions to Merriam-Webster, Britannica Online Premium, and the Regional Champions' School, and a 2025 U.S. Mint proof set. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Scripps National Spelling Bee 2025: What to know, dates, how to watch
The Herald Scotland
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
'En route to the West End, it looks like the winner it already is'
King's Theatre, Glasgow Neil Cooper Four stars The irresistible rise of theatre built on the premise of dramatic calamity both on and back stage has come a long way since it was arguably spawned by Michael Frayn's ingenious 1982 farce, Noises Off. Since then, the likes of the tellingly named The Play that Goes Wrong has seen a younger generation of artists take what was once a fringe pursuit into the theatrical mainstream. So it goes as well for the Say it Again, Sorry? company, whose starting point may be Oscar Wilde's subversive drawing room comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest, but who manage to disrupt it with the sort of anarchic intent that might appeal to dear Oscar himself. All seems well at first in what looks like a decidedly old school wheeze, as man about town Algernon awaits a visitation from his chum Ernest. When his arrival is announced, alas, his absence is more akin to Waiting for Godot. This prompts an intervention from the show's director, who enlists volunteers from the audience, not just to play Ernie, but also unseen love interest Cecily after the actress cast din the role itches the show for a stint on Harry Potter on Ice. READ MORE: 'The set is like an HBO epic': Shakespeare classic sparks with an erotic charge Truth is out stars for hypnotic rendition of When Prophecy Fails A mesmerising experience with a talking monkey As Trynity Silk's ingénue Jennifer gets quietly hammered while playing Gwendolen and Judith Amsenga's old luv Eleanor loses her voice while playing Lady Bracknell, this necessitates further emergency measures. By the end of the show, everyone on stage has been co-opted from the crowd for a chaotic cosplay that looks somewhere between a university drama club in-joke, a Crackerjack panto and a reboot of Bruce Forsyth's Generation Game. Of course, how funny Simon Paris' production of his and Josh King's loose knit script created with the company of seven actors depends on who is willing to join in. It's all well and good on the Edinburgh Fringe, where the show premiered in 2021, where the entire audience is desperate to do a turn, but what of Glasgow in May? Mercifully, Saturday night's show was blessed with a game Cecily and a scientist who had never been to a play before. Shown the ropes by Josh Haberfield as director Simon Slough, the pair rise to the occasion as they are fed lines somewhere in the vicinity of Wilde's original. Drunken spoonerisms abound from Jennifer regarding hope in souls and shining wit, while Ben Mann as stage manager Josh introduces some physical jerks into the mix whilst manning an impromptu on-stage merch stall. As the show does the rounds en route to the West End, it looks like the winner it already is. What could possibly go wrong?
BBC News
19-04-2025
- BBC News
Winter Hill landmark cairns restoration plan to deter vandals
Two landmark cairns at a popular walking destination are set to be restored to "deter vandalism and make the monument safer", a conservation charity has Two Lads on Crooked Edge Hill - an outlying summit on Winter Hill between Greater Manchester and Lancashire - have been damaged and rebuilt many times over the years.A representative for the Woodland Trust, which manages the moorland, said: "We are planning to restore Two Lads securely to deter vandalism and make the monument safer for visitors."While they were first recorded on maps in 1787, according to the trust they may also have been mentioned in a land deed from Cecily, widow of Roger de Worsley, in 1280. The second cairn was rebuilt in the 1970s on Winter Hill, which on sunny days offers panoramic views as far away as the Irish Sea to the west and the Peak District to the Hill, also known for its huge telecommunications mast, is a popular walking destination.A third cairn has also appeared May, the Woodland Trust will hold a series of community meetings with members of the public to share how they plan to restore and preserve the cairns. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
