When Leelanau County's top eight spellers show up for a regional spelling bee on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Traverse City Opera House, they may be facing tougher competition – and a tougher list of words – than in years past.
At last week’s Leelanau County Spelling Bee, an especially difficult list of words prepared by the Scripps National Spelling Bee organization in Washington, D.C. resulted in the first-round elimination of 31 of the 44 students participating in the bee. In the following rounds, none of the students could spell the majority of words presented. Nonetheless, eight of the students in the fifth through eighth grades who missed the fewest words were selected for inclusion on the county team.
Previously, students participating in the county bee had emerged as the top spellers in competition held at the the county’s four public schools – Northport, Leland, Suttons Bay and Glen Lake – plus two private schools, St. Mary and Pathfinder.
The Leelanau Enterprise sponsors the county-wide spelling bee by providing certificates of accomplishment for all spellers who participate, one of the judges for the bee, and prizes for the top spellers. The Traverse City Record-Eagle coordinates spelling bees throughout the region, conducts the regional spelling bee, and sends the top speller to Washington, D.C. for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The Scripps-Howard news service coordinates and conducts the National Spelling Bee.
Regional spelling bee coordinator Maia Conway of the Record-Eagle said that for the 2007-08 spelling bee season there were many changes implemented by Scripps, including tougher lists of words.In addition, schools were charged a $99 fee by Scripps to cover administrative costs at the Scripps headquarters, including development of this year’s online study guide,
www.myspellit.com.
Northport Public School hosted this year’s Leelanau County Spelling Bee. Northport superintendent Ty Wessell said his district has paid the $99 bill from Scripps.
"We didn’t pay that fee a few years ago when we also hosted the bee," Wessell said, "so, apparently, this is something new."
Other Leelanau County schools that held bees consistent with Scripps National Spelling Bee rules also paid the $99 fee.
Leland music teacher Jennifer Fenton coordinated a school spelling bee for Leland and said her district paid the fee. She said that access to the Scripps "myspellit" website allowed her to obtain lists of words that were appropriate for fifth through eighth graders, but could not explain why a list of words presented at the county bee was so difficult.
The coordinator of the county bee at Northport, substitute teacher Erin Connolly, said she used the list provided by Scripps and also could not explain why it contained words far more difficult than those included in spelling bees in past years.
Conway explained that Scripps had noted that students in past years had prepared for bees by memorizing a list of words. Scripps this year provided lists for each level of competition – local, county, regional and national – rewarding spellers who have a deeper understanding of the English language rather than those with excellent memorization skills, Conway said.
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