By the time many competitors were winding down Monday night, Jahmir Greaux was still studying.
Past 1 a.m., the U.S. Virgin Islands representative at this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee was reviewing word origins, drilling vocabulary, and working through practice questions on Scripps’ study tools before heading back at it again early Tuesday morning. “He did absolutely nothing besides study,” his mother, Shauna Greaux, said. “Even when he said he was taking a break, he was studying.”
The eighth grader, hailing from the Eulalie Rivera K-8 School on St. Croix, represented the territory this week in Washington, D.C., joining 247 spellers from across the United States and beyond for one of the nation’s best-known academic competitions. Jahmir, his mom, and the USVI contingent arrived Sunday afternoon, checking in alongside competitors and families from around the world before diving into Bee Week activities — meeting fellow contestants, collecting autographs, visiting the book fair, and participating in events designed to help spellers settle nerves before competition day arrived Tuesday.
Preparation, his mother said, centered heavily on understanding where words come from.
“He really focused on origin words,” Shauna Greaux said. “That’s how he’s able to tell the correct spelling.” Jahmir leaned heavily on the official Scripps study app and vocabulary preparation tools in the weeks leading up to nationals.
That preparation paid off.
Tuesday’s preliminary competition opened with an oral spelling round, where Jahmir correctly spelled “giallolino” to advance. Round two shifted to vocabulary, where competitors answered multiple-choice language questions. Jahmir advanced again, correctly identifying that something described as “dilapidated” is “in a state of disrepair.”
The challenge changed dramatically after that.
Competitors who survived the opening rounds moved into a written assessment combining spelling and vocabulary questions. This year’s written test included 30 questions — 24 spelling and six vocabulary — with only the top scorers advancing. Unlike early rounds built around official study materials, later words come from Merriam-Webster Unabridged, introducing a level of unpredictability that can challenge even experienced competitors. Competitors needed a score of at least 13 to advance.
Jahmir finished with eight.
The score left him tied for 96th nationally — an accomplishment that placed him among the nation’s top young spellers, even as it ended his run before Wednesday’s quarterfinal rounds.
“Some started easy and then got harder,” Jahmir said afterward, reflecting on the written portion. “I knew it was going to be hard.”
Even amid competition pressure, some of Jahmir’s favorite moments happened away from the microphone.
“It was fun getting to know everybody,” he said of meeting fellow competitors. Bee Week included games, social activities, and opportunities for students to connect with peers who shared the same love of words.
This marked Jahmir’s first appearance at nationals, though the experience was not unfamiliar to the Greaux family. His older brother also competed at Scripps in 2024.
By Tuesday night, after the results email arrived, disappointment gave way quickly to perspective.
“Ninety-six out of 247 spellers,” Shauna Greaux said. “That’s amazing.”
Jahmir agreed.
“Overall, it was fun,” he said. “I wish I could do it again.”
Now, the next chapter looks very different. Jahmir said his summer will include preparing for a move to Tampa, Florida. But after weeks of nonstop preparation and a national competition run that carried him into the country’s top 100 young spellers, he leaves Washington with something bigger than a placement number — proof that hard work once again carried a student from the Virgin Islands onto one of the nation’s largest academic stages.
