The Road to SCRIPPS National Spelling Bee Is Coming Through Kalamazoo
I've always thought I was a pretty decent speller. I even won a classroom spelling bee when I was in the 6th grade.. the word was Vacuum... and I was the only one that remembered the second "U" in the word, and didn't put an "E" at the end.
But fast forward a few years, and I'm still the grown adult who has to say "Wed-Nes-Day" out loud whenever I'm spelling "Wednesday." I'm no spelling savant, but Kalamazoo may see some of the best spellers in the country in the Spring of 2023.
This is some A-W-E-S-O-M-E "Awesome" news for Kalamazoo, and for spelling nuts across the country, as SCRIPPS is bringing one of their regional spelling competitions to Kalamazoo.
This is an amazing opportunity for SCRIPPS, for Kalamazoo, and especially the Kalamazoo Public School System, which struck a partnership together.
The announcement was made Wednesday evening, that the annual Spelling competition would come through Kalamazoo on March 4th, 2023 at the Central High School Auditorium, and coordinated through the assistance of the Kalamazoo Experimental Learning Center.
And this isn't just one of the lower-level competitions in the SCRIPPS tournament. This is a semi-final of sorts, that will send one champion to the official SCRIPPS Spelling Bee Championship in Maryland on May 31st.
This is the first year the event will happen in Kalamazoo.
"Kalamazoo has a proud history of education in this community. We see this as another opportunity to further enhance and build on this rich tradition and provide students a platform to display their talents.
... We are proud to play a part in bringing [this] opportunity to kids right here in our community." - Brian Persky, Director of Business Development for Discover Kalamazoo
Schools in Kalamazoo County are eligible to enroll in the 2022-23 program now through December 31, and participating schools will send winners to the regional event in March.
If you are an educator, you can visit the enrollment site to learn more about how you can enroll.
And if you want some practice, and to get an idea as to what you might be getting into, check out the footage of last year's champion, 14-year-old Harini Logan, and her winning word.