DAVENPORT, Iowa — One Iowa student will represent the Hawkeye State in this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee.
That student is 11-year-old Lindsey Jessen, a sixth grader from Marion. She is sponsored by The Dispatch-Argus, a Quad Cities-based newspaper.
Jessen is currently homeschooled through the Marion Home School Assistance Program, according to her official biography on the spelling bee's website.
Back in February, Jessen won the 42nd Annual Dispatch-Argus Regional Scripps Spelling Bee, beating out 44 other spellers.
Described as a "quiet, kind individual", Jessen has a variety of interests, including basketball, soccer and math. Her favorite activity, however, is reading.
Jessen's favorite author is Lois Lowry. Her favorite movie is "Matilda the Musical", an unsurprising pick for a bookworm like herself.
When she's not reading or competing in national spelling bees, Jessen enjoys volunteering with her church to serve meals and building beds with Sleep in Heavenly Peace.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee begins with the preliminary rounds on Tuesday at 8 a.m. CT.
The first two rounds, the preliminaries and the quarterfinals, are found exclusively on ION Plus. The semifinals and finals will be broadcast on ION.
View the full schedule below:
- May 30: Preliminaries
- ION Plus, 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m. CT
- May 31: Quarterfinals and semifinals
- Quarterfinals
- ION Plus, 7 a.m.-12 p.m. CT
- Semifinals
- ION, 7 p.m.-9 p.m. CT
- Quarterfinals
- June 1: Finals
- ION, 7 p.m.-9 p.m. CT
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