Regional Spelling Bee
March is always an exciting time for WHRO. This is the month we host the TowneBank Spelling Bee, a regional competition that determines which local student will move on to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The national competition has become a popular event through the years. It began in 1925 when nine newspapers joined together to host a spelling bee. Now, 100 years later the Bee reaches 11 million students each year.
Each year’s event provides its own exciting and nail-biting moments. At the 2019 national competition, judges made history when they ran out of challenging words for eight final contestants. After the 20th round and no challenging words left, the eight final contestants became co-champions!
The excitement is no less palpable here in our studio when the regional bee takes place. Both students and parents must battle their nerves as the competition progresses.
How to Enroll Your School:
But before any student can participate at the regional level, they have to win their school's spelling bee.
Is your school participating? Make sure you are represented by enrolling your school.
The regional spelling bee is scheduled for March 29, 2025. The champion of our local competition will represent our region in the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Prizes for our area’s top speller will include an expenses-paid trip to the national competition.
Visit the SpellingBee website and encourage your school to sign up. The deadline to enroll your school is January 31, 2025.
Details For Your School:
When you enroll your school in the spelling bee program, your teachers receive materials for conducting classroom and school spelling bees, supplemental word meaning and reading lists, and information about how school champions can continue on in further levels of competition, potentially to our national finals in Washington, D.C.
When you enroll your school at spellingbee.com and pay the $185 enrollment fee ($199 if enrolled after October 31), you will receive exclusive online access to:
-Official study lists with spellings and word meanings for students in grades 1-8
-The 2025 Classroom Competition List for administering classroom spelling bees
-The 2025 School Competition List for administering a school spelling bee
-Access to the Bee's Online Testing Platform for creating Classroom and School Online Tests
-Words of the Champions, the 4,000-word study resource for your school spelling bee champion
-The Great Words, Great Works reading list with all source books for the School Spelling Bee Study List, organized by grade level
-Supplemental word meaning materials for classroom and school levels
-Award certificates for participants and your school champion
-Entrance for your school champion in the TowneBank Spelling Bee program
Watch the recorded broadcast of the 2024 WHRO Public Media Spelling Bee: