Nestled between the much larger cities of Houston and Corpus Christi, you can't blame the residents of Victoria, Texas for wanting to forge their own identity. It was that mindset that led the local newspaper, the Victoria Advocate, to branch off and start its own regional spelling bee in 1990.
"Our students had been traveling to Corpus Christi or Houston for the spelling bee," said Kay McHaney, co-owner of the Victoria Advocate. "A parent asked me why we didn't sponsor the bee locally so the students didn't have to travel so far. After visiting with Scripps, we arranged for Victoria to have a regional bee which involved seven counties."
That regional bee has now been going strong for a quarter of a century, in large part because of the dedication of a strong partner.
"Region III Educational Service Center has been our constant partner from the beginning," McHaney said. "They made the original contacts to the individual campuses in the seven county area encouraging participation. They are the entity that puts on the regional bee that takes place on the Victoria College campus."
McHaney notes that literacy and the importance of words are at the core of the newspaper industry. She loves watching the spellers compete year after year and says "the experience they gain is irreplaceable - the confidence, knowledge and friendly competition these spellers portray is amazing."
And even though the expression says that everything is bigger in Texas, that's not the case for the regional bee in Victoria. Only 14 students - two from each sponsored county - compete in the final bee. McHaney sees that as a positive.
"Because of our small bee, we very often know the families participating and can follow the future paths of our winners," McHaney said. "Last year, we did a special section in the Victoria Advocate celebrating our 25 years. We were able to interview most of the past winners and report on their lives since their D.C. experience."
There will be one more winner to add to that list in 2015 as the Victoria Advocate prepares to crown its 26th champion.