Program Spotlight - Kent Intermediate School District

The Scripps National Spelling Bee takes place roughly 12 miles from the White House in Washington, D.C., but did you know there’s a final local spelling bee that has an even closer relationship with a president?

The Kent Intermediate School District holds the Greater Grand Rapids (Michigan) Spelling Bee in the auditorium of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum every year (left). Perhaps the venue honoring the 38th President of the United States gives the spellers a little extra motivation to make it to D.C.

“We no longer see ‘natural’ spellers showing up expecting to win without having studied hard,” said Mary Nell W. Baldwin, Greater Grand Rapids Spelling Bee Coordinator. “Spellers have all clearly prepared with the National Spelling Bee as their goal.”

While the competition has become more serious in recent years, spellers can relax with a special frosted “Spelling Bee” cookie featuring a different letter of the alphabet on each one, provided yearly by the Culinary Arts program of Kent Career Technical Center.

And the Greater Grand Rapids Spelling Bee wouldn’t be complete without a few familiar faces. 2015 will be Baldwin’s 22nd spelling bee, yet some of her colleagues have her beat by more than a decade.

“One of our judges, Sister Rosemary Smith, RSM, was one of the founders of the spelling bee,” Baldwin said. “Esther Yff-Prins has been our pronouncer for 37 years.”

Finally, the Kent Intermediate School District, who was a longtime co-sponsor of the bee before taking over the lead sponsorship five years ago, is very grateful for the help of multiple local donors.

“We would no longer have a Greater Grand Rapids Spelling Bee without the varied mix of wonderful sponsors who step forward each year to make our spelling bee possible,” Baldwin said.

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