Photo provided Teachers and classmates at St. Mary's Central School offer their best wishes to eighth-grader Adeline Jackson, who will compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 27-28 in Washington D.C.

The third time was the charm for St. Mary’s Central eighth-grader Adeline Jackson in the Belmont County Regional Spelling Bee, and now she’ll see if that success carries over to the national stage.

St. Mary’s teachers and classmates bid Jackson, a Bridgeport resident, good luck as she prepares for her chance at a national title at the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, to be held May 26-28 at DAR Constitution Hall. Jackson is one of 247 spellers from across the United States and one of 15 from Ohio to compete in this year’s nationals. She will be contestant No. 175 at this year’s competition.

In her third year competing in the Belmont County Regional Spelling Bee, Jackson emerged from the 18-speller field to win the crown and the trip to Washington, D.C. She finished runner-up in the 2025 bee.

Nightly practices were what Jackson’s parents, Elizabeth and Scott Jackson, said were the key to winning the regional bee. Adeline Jackson said a competitive spirit also drove her.

“I like to win,” Jackson said after her regional victory. “I worked really hard and I got second place last year, and I said to myself that I wanted to win this year, so I worked really hard.”

Local supporters will be able to follow Jackson’s path through the national bee via broadcast. The preliminaries will air on Scripps Sports Network from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 26, and the quarterfinals will air from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the network. Scripps Sports is a free streaming channel available on multiple platforms, including Roku, Amazon, Google and Fox Corporation.

The semifinals will air from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. May 27 on Ion Television, as will the finals from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. May 28.