Miah Miller sees many benefits of spelling bees.
“I’m amazed at how many new words I’ve learned, and it’s really expanded my vocabulary,” Miah said. “It’s also fun to compete and win.”
Miller has certainly done her share of winning. Miller, who will be an eighth-grader at Creekside Middle School the fall, won the Indianapolis regional competition March 17 to advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee May 28-29 in National Harbor, Md.
Miah won her class bee and then advanced to represent her grade by winning her schoolwide bee. JiHyun Miller, her mother, said Miah then qualified to compete in the regional bee by achieving a perfect score on the regional qualifying exam in February.
“The word that won her the regional bee and a spot at the national competition was chastushka, a word of Russian origin, describing a four-line rhymed verse of topical or political content,” Miller said. “Other words she correctly spelled during the rounds included nozzles, ouster, zoolatry, lithophone, theosophy, cephalopod, titian, glyceraldehyde and blatherskite.”
Miller is one of six Indiana spellers in the national contest.
“I am looking forward to meeting spellers from across the U.S. during the Bee Week events and making new friends,” she said. “I am also excited about doing some sightseeing in (Washington) D.C., with my family and visiting the national monuments and Smithsonian museums.”
Miller said she has been studying several hours per day for the past few months.
“I use the online Word Club app to review and test myself on spelling and definitions,” she said. “My mom often quizzes me from a word list so I can practice spelling the words out loud like I’ll have to do when I’m on stage.”
Miller helped Creekside win its second consecutive Academic Spell Bowl in November 2022. She said she enjoys the individual and state competitions.
“I like the camaraderie and support you get when you compete as a team but appreciate the flexibility when it comes to studying on my own,” Miller said.
The National Spelling Bee will be televised on the Ion network, WIPX, in Indianapolis.
For more, visit spellingbee.com.
