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Pandemic has lingering toll on smaller National Spelling Bee

Andrew Smith, eighth-grade student at Assumption BVM School in Pottsville, Pa., departs the school yard after his surpise send-off for his departure to the National Spelling Bee on Thursday, May 26, 2022. Smith won the 66th Regional Spelling Bee competition in March. (Jacqueline Dormer/Republican-Herald via AP)

FILE -Akash Vukoti, 9, of San Angelo, Texas, competes in the second round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Tuesday, May 28, 2019, in Oxon Hill, Md. The Scripps National Spelling Bee is back, fully in person at its usual venue outside Washington for the first time since 2019. But the pandemic continues to affect kids who've spent years preparing to compete for spelling's top prize. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

FILE - Harini Logan, 11, of San Antonio, smiles after correctly spelling her word as she competes in the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, May 30, 2019. The Scripps National Spelling Bee is back, fully in person at its usual venue outside Washington for the first time since 2019. But the pandemic continues to affect kids who've spent years preparing to compete for spelling's top prize. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Pandemic has lingering toll on smaller National Spelling Bee