San Antonio 6th grader among 20 Texans to compete in Scripps National Spelling Bee this week

A San Antonio sixth grader is among 20 Texans competing in this week’s Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Siyonamithra Kandala, 12, from Keystone School is making a return to the national competition. Last year she tied for 23rd place.

According to her spelling bee bio, Siyona loves to read, listen to music, write stories and poems, and likes trivia TV shows.

This year’s Bee boasts the largest field of competitors in five years with 245 who range in age from 8 to 15. Texas is represented more than any other state.

California and Ohio are next with 17 competitors each. There are 12 competitors from outside the 50 United States.

Texas has produced 16 winners in the history of the event, including 2022′s winner — Harini Logan from San Antonio.

Here is a list of Texas students who are competing this year:

• Tarini Nandakumar, Austin

• Sariah Titus, Abilene

• Jayden Zheng, Amarillo

• Anthony Reyes, Corpus Christi

• Faizan Zaki, Dallas

• Sriya Gomatam, Dallas

• Chioma Egbuonu, El Paso

• Tanya Kadaru, Fort Worth

• Ishika Varipilli, Houston

• Kirsten Tiffany Santos, Houston

• Vir Lagad, Houston

• Alejandro Martinez, Laredo

• Michael Tesfaye, Lubbock

• Caleb Giuoco, McAllen

• Shreeya Sivakumar, Midland

• Jaynard Quiray, Odessa

• Kooper Mikeska, San Angelo

• Siyonamithra Kandala, San Antonio

• Lucas Lee, Victoria

• Aarav Sargurunathan, Waco

Here’s how to watch the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee:

• The preliminaries will be streamed on ION Plus, Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More and spellingbee.com from 8 a.m. to 7:40 p.m. on Tuesday, May 28.
• The quarterfinals will be streamed on ION Plus, Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More and spellingbee.com from 8 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday, May 29.
• The semifinals will be streamed on ION Plus, Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More and spellingbee.com from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 29. A special semifinals broadcast will air later that evening from 8-10 p.m. on ION and Scripps News, as well as Bounce, Grit, ION Mystery, Laff and Defy TV.

• The finals will air live in primetime on ION from 8-10 p.m. on Thursday, May 30.