Meet the three Tennessee students competing in the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee

Three young Tennesseans are set to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which kicks off with its preliminary round on May 28.

This year's competition runs from May 28-30 and is host to 245 spellers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The group also includes spellers from Department of Defense Schools in Europe, along with some from the Bahamas, Canada and Ghana.

Regional partners oversee competitions that determine who will go to nationals and also sponsor spellers. This year, the Tennessee Titans are sponsoring two spellers, and the University of Memphis is sponsoring one. The national competition will be hosted in National Harbor, Maryland, just a few miles from the nation's capital.

Here's a look at the three spellers from Tennessee and what to expect for this year's competition. You can read more about all 245 spellers at spellingbee.com/meet-the-spellers.

Meet the Tennessee spellers competing this year

Jashit Verma, 9, Germantown

Jashit, who goes by Josh, will be among the youngest competitors at the National Spelling Bee this year. His dad, Abhishek Navneet, said the family saw this coming long ago.

"When he was in preschool, we received a note from his teacher that praised his vocab level and said he was going to be a National Spelling Bee competitor one day," Navneet said.

Four years later, Josh is certainly a competitor, and he can't wait for nationals.

"I'm practicing all the time," Josh said. "Sometimes I even rush my homework so that I can get to my spelling bee practice."

He said the hardest word he has had to spell was polygenous, which Merriam-Webster defines as "consisting of many elements." It was his winning word in the finals of the regional competition.

"Josh memorized nearly 4,000 words, or 60 pages, for regionals, and he only had three months to do it," Navneet said. "His next goal is to win nationals, and though we aren't sure when it will happen, we know it will."

Josh attends Farmington Elementary School in Germantown and is being sponsored by the University of Memphis.

Leila McLaurin, 14, Knoxville

Leila's passion for spelling first started in the third grade. After that, she set a goal for herself to make it to the National Spelling Bee. She worked her way up through class, school and regional competitions until she finally reached her goal.

She said the hardest word she had to spell was Risorgimento, which means "rising again" in Italian and refers to the 19th century unification of Italy, according to britannica.com. She wasn't sure how to spell it, but gave it her best guess and ended up advancing in a regional competition hosted this spring in Nashville.

While she's still a little nervous about the upcoming competition, Leila said she's also looking forward to it.

"I don't really know a lot of people who enjoy spelling, so maybe I can make some new friends there," she said.

Outside of spelling, Leila said she enjoys singing, playing piano and rowing with her crew team. She's also part of the Girl Scouts. Her dad, Luke McLaurin, said his daughter is the type of kid who sets goals for herself and works hard to achieve them.

"That's what makes us the most proud of her," he said. "She puts in the effort to do the things that she sets her mind on."

Leila attends Sacred Heart Cathedral School in Knoxville and is being sponsored by the Tennessee Titans.

Mina Chen, 14, Nashville

Han-sheng Chen was furiously texting updates to his wife, who was unable to attend while their daughter, Mina, competed in the regional competition that would determine if she'd head to the National Spelling Bee.

"I think I was more nervous than she was," he said with a laugh.

He said their whole family is very proud of Mina for making it to the National Spelling Bee, and also for her humility and hard work in all aspects of her life.

When she's not busy with school or studying spelling words for the competition, Mina enjoys making origami and playing Minecraft and Tetris. She also made the state bowling team as an eighth grader and placed fourth.

While she said all the attention and celebration around her is sometimes a little embarrassing, she also said she appreciates the support and the opportunity to compete at the national level — something she's dreamed about since she was little.

"I hope I can do good for all the people that got eliminated on my way to the National Spelling Bee and for all the people who are supporting me," she said.

Mina said the hardest word she's faced is Quaoar, which is the name of an unclassified planet-like object in the solar system that lies just beyond the orbit of Pluto, according to space.com.

Mina attends Lipscomb Academy in Nashville and is being sponsored by the Tennessee Titans.

2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee schedule, how to watch and more

The preliminaries, quarterfinals and semifinals will be livestreamed on ION Plus, Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More and spellingbee.com. The finals will air live in prime time on ION. ION can be accessed for free over the air and is carried by most cable, satellite and streaming providers. You can also look up who will carry the broadcasts by zip code at spellingbee.com/watch.

Here’s a look at the times and dates for each stage of the competition. All times are in eastern time and end times are approximate.

• Preliminaries: Tuesday, May 28, from 8 a.m. to 7:40 p.m. eastern

• Quarterfinals: Wednesday, May 29, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. eastern

• Semifinals: Wednesday, May 29, from 2:30-6:30 p.m. eastern, followed by a special semifinals broadcast from 8-10 p.m. eastern.

• Finals: Thursday, May 30, from 8-10 p.m. eastern

The finals will also air on Grit, ION Mystery, Laff, Defy TV and Bounce, along with free streaming channels ION Plus, Bounce XL, Grit Xtra and Laff More. The free streaming channels come with ads.

The preliminaries, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals are all divided into spelling and vocabulary rounds. Officials may also use a spell-off in special circumstances to determine a winner. Learn more about the rules of each round and how spell-offs work at spellingbee.com/rules.

This year's champion will win a $50,000 cash prize from Scripps and be given a medal and the Scripps Cup trophy. They will also win another $2,500 cash prize and a reference library from Merriam-Webster, along with $400 worth of reference works from Encyclopædia Brittanica.

Other finalists will also win cash prizes, including:

• Second place: $25,000

• Third place: $15,000

• Fourth place: $10,000

• Fifth place: $5,000

• Sixth place: $2,500

See the full list of prizes that spellers have a chance to win at spellingbee.com/prizes.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Scripps National Spelling Bee 2024: Meet the spellers from Tennessee