Local sponsors are the lifeblood of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. They are media outlets, universities, businesses and community organizations that work with the Bee to support schools in their local area. These organizations work with teachers and administrators to ensure school bees run smoothly, put the necessary time and effort into running final local bees, and act as a resource for national finalists and their families in the weeks leading up to Bee Week. In the "Program Spotlight," we recognize these sponsors and the great impact that they have on communities across the country.
When Gokul Venkatachalam became a co-champion of the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee, it was a proud moment for his sponsor, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A local area spelling bee sponsor since 1986, the paper has a rich, and winning, tradition with the Bee. In fact, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has sponsored several top five finishers at the national level as well as two national champions; George Thampy represented the paper when he correctly spelled "demarche" to win the Bee in 2000.
Becky Griess, Director of Promotions for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, had this to say about why they choose to sponsor the Bee: "Literacy is a fundamental building block for learning. As a newspaper, we use our printed and digital products to bridge the gap between the classroom and the real world — providing a living textbook for current events as they happen. As a spelling bee sponsor, we give the youth an outlet to excel in spelling, vocabulary and concepts needed to increase their literacy and become future readers."
Every year, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch hosts approximately 300 school spelling bee champions at its semifinal round of competition. With such a large pool of competitors, the paper has to get a little creative with its competition schedule. On a Saturday in March, the roughly 300 competitors gather at McKendree University to take a written test. These tests are graded, and the scores are ranked by the number of correctly spelled words. Then a minimum of 30 spellers will meet on the following Saturday for the final round of local competition, an oral bee also held at McKendree University.
When the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is ready to declare a champion, the program has a great tradition for awarding the championship trophy. The program invites the former winner back to the bee to present the trophy to the the new champion, and one of these occasions was particularly meaningful to the spelling bee coordinators from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In 2001, national champion George Thampy returned to the final local bee to present the trophy to his sister, Mallika.
Becky and the other spelling bee coordinators at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch put a lot of time and energy into conducting their local program, but she is quick to recognize the other individuals who help make it happen: "Each year, our bee would not be possible without the thousands of teachers and administrators that work relentlessly to hold their school bee and prepare their winner to advance to our regional competition. And as for our judges and pronouncers, dedicated, compassionate and enthusiastic are just a few words to describe this team of experts that without them, the bee would not happen." Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE
We wish the St. Louis Post-Dispatch good luck in its thirtieth year of spelling bee competition!