It's that time again: Teachers are preparing for the first week of class, families are taking one last vacation before the school year starts up, and here at the Bee the enrollment season has begun for schools across the United States.
The 2014-15 Bee season ended with a truly inspiring moment as Vanya Shivashankar and Gokul Venkatachalam became only the fifth pair of co-champions in the Scripps National Spelling Bee's history! It was also the very first time in the Bee's 88-year run that co-champions had been declared in back-to-back years.
But the Scripps National Spelling Bee represents so much more than one week in Washington, D.C. In the next few months, tens of thousands of schools will enroll with the Bee, making it possible for over 11 million students to compete at the classroom level. It is important to remember that every Scripps National Spelling Bee champion's journey to Washington, D.C., begins in the classroom with a study list and a willingness to work toward his or her dreams.
As the nation's largest and longest running educational program, we take seriously our mission to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives. Through resources, such as Word Club, we strive to provide students with the tools that they need to perform to the best of their abilities, not just in spelling bees but in the classroom and even later in their future pursuits.
So what can you do to get involved in this buzzworthy program?
First, anyone can check to see if a school is enrolled with the Bee by clicking on this link and searching by the school's zip code.
If a school is not enrolled, teachers or school administrators can click here to enroll a school.
By enrolling in the Bee, schools receive a virtual Bee-in-a-Box with everything that a teacher will need to run a classroom or school spelling bee, such as:
- Online access to the teachers-only section of spellingbee.com (preview)
- Official study lists for students, organized by grade level (sample)
- Study materials for each school spelling champion (sample)
- The 2016 Classroom Pronouncer Guide (sample)
- The 2016 School Pronouncer Guide (sample)
- Materials to conduct a Great American SpellCheck fundraiser (sample)
- Award certificates (sample)
- A free one-year subscription to Britannica Online for Kids (a $69.95 value) to use as a spelling bee prize. Schools that enroll by September 30th will receive a second subscription as an added gift.
Through a new feature on spellingbee.com, teachers can easily communicate with parents by inviting them to create a free Word Club account. Here parents can access school spelling bee study lists and learn specific details about their child's school spelling bee.
Enroll today! The deadline for early bird enrollment is October 15.
Questions? Ask us.