Once again this year, WHRO Public Media is proud to sponsor the regional competition for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. But before any student can get there, they have to win their school's spelling bee and then compete in our regional competition in the spring!

Is your school participating? Make sure you are representing your city by enrolling your school.

The regional spelling bee is set to take place on February 10, 2024. The champion of our local competition will represent our region in the 2024 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 Jan. 1, 2024.

Note: The deadline for your school to hold its competition is Jan. 18.

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.

Schools that enroll in the 2024 Bee program receive the following benefits:

  • Official study lists with spellings and word meanings for students in grades 1-8,
  • The 2024 Classroom Competition List for administering classroom spelling bees,
  • The 2024 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 vocabulary materials for classroom and school levels,
  • Award certificates for participants and your school champion, and
  • Entrance for your school champion in the WHRO Public Media Spelling Bee program.

The deadline to enroll your school is Jan. 1, 2024.

ENROLL TODAY!

 

rohith konduri

Rohith Konduri, from Norfolk Academy, took first place in the 2023 competition. He was the regional bee's third-place winner in 2022. His winning word in this year's competition was "anathema," which means "someone or something intensely disliked or loathed." The word was once a synonym for "excommunication" in the early Roman church. 

A Few Fun Facts:

  • The National Spelling Bee began in 1925 when nine newspapers joined together to host a spelling bee. Little did they know that 90 years later their literacy effort would reach 11 million students each year.
  • Eight spellers conquered eight championship words to make history in 2019. What were they? Auslaut. Erysipelas. Bougainvillea. Aiguillette. Pendeloque. Palama. Cernuous. Odylic.
  • The French word connoisseur has been the most frequently used word on Scripps National Spelling Bee word lists.
  • There was no Scripps National Spelling Bee from 1943-1945. It was called off due to World War II.

The Bee helps students improve their spelling, increase their vocabulary, learn concepts and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives. In addition to the academic benefits, students also develop important life skills – like goal setting, time management and public speaking – that will help them as they advance in school and eventually to successful careers.

Watch last year's competition.