South Dakota student makes it to 2nd round of national spelling bee

The student representing South Dakota in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington made it to the second round of this week's competition.

Oscar Quezada, who attends Challenge Center Elementary School in Sioux Falls, correctly spelled "taoiseach" in the first round but stumbled in the second, vocabulary round on "protean."

The national bee finals will air live from 7-9 p.m. Central time on Thursday, May 28, on ION.

Oscar Quezada of Sioux Falls, S.D., representing Challenge Center at Robert Frost Elementary School, competes in the Preliminary Round of the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington on Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (Photo: Scripps National Spelling Bee)

Oscar won the 2026 South Dakota State Spelling Bee on Feb. 7 in the 19th round after correctly spelling "arrearage."

For the second year, South Dakota News Watch and Dakota Wesleyan University sponsored the state competition, which was held at DWU. Financial support for Black Hills area students also came from the Independent Insurance Agents of Rapid City.

The top three finishers in the South Dakota State Spelling Bee, held Feb. 7, 2026, in Mitchell, S.D.: Pleroma Otang (2nd place), Oscar Quezada (1st place) and Ashika Gupta (3rd place). (Photo: Carson Walker/South Dakota News Watch)

Pleroma Otang, 11, a 6th grader from Brandon Valley Intermedia School, took second place at the state bee and Ashika Gupta, 13, an 8th grader from Dakota Valley Upper Elementary Middle School placed 3rd.

Oscar is among 247 elementary and middle school students from around the country who qualified to gather in Washington for the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

11 middle schoolers to compete in state civics beeThe winners chosen from four regional competitions will meet June 11 at Augustana University.South Dakota News WatchCarson Walker

Do you value education? Please consider partnering with us by helping to cover the sponsorship costs at the link below to ensure the state competition continues.

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_South Dakota News Watch is an independent nonprofit. Read, donate and subscribe for free at sdnewswatch.org.Contact CEO Carson Walker: 605-610-9366/__carson.walker@sdnewswatch.org_ .