2008 HEN Spelling Bee

Date: January 25, 2008
Junior Division: 10:30-12:30
Senior Division: 1:30

Big changes, and some small ones too, are in the works for this year's spelling bee. The main constant is that the bee allows children through 8th grade an opportunity to compete in an academic, but fairly non-threatening way. No speech, dramatic performance or fancy costume required—just stand at the microphone and spell as well as possible! All spellers receive participation ribbons, and 1 st- and 2nd-place ribbons or medals are awarded to winners. The top two Senior Division spellers advance to the Douglas County Spelling Bee where they compete for the opportunity to participate at the regional and then national levels.

New this year is the availability of all spelling bee information on line. No need to send for word lists or go to Omaha World-Herald for a study booklet! Pre-register by e-mail. We do still need to hold the bee in person though, so please come to the A.V. Sorensen Community Center on 48th and Cass Streets in Omaha on Friday, January 25. Parking is available in lots on the east and west sides of the building, as well as on the street.

Another major change is that the Junior and Senior Divisions will be separated by a mid-day break this year, allowing those who need to be present for only a part of the day to come and go more easily. Grades 1-4 make up the Junior Division and will compete from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Spelling bee officials and anyone coming for the entire bee will break for lunch, then Senior Division spellers in grades 8 and under will begin their competition at 1:30. Please come 15 minutes before the start of your division to sign in.

No registration fee has been charged in recent years for the HEN bee, but a box for donations will be available at the sign-in table. Due to the rising costs of hosting the spelling bee, your donations are increasingly important. We are extremely fortunate to have people who donate their time to pronouncing and judging, and grateful to the Omaha Public Library for getting us a free room in which to hold the bee. However, HEN now has to pay a fee to register with Scripps, as well as buying ribbons and medals. Although we have not charged for the spelling bee in recent years, it now costs about $2-3 per child to host the spelling bee, depending on how many participate. Please consider how much you can contribute and look for the donation box when you sign in at the bee.

Junior Division (grades 1-4)

Junior Division students spell at their own grade level, one group at a time, starting with 1st grade. When printing word lists from this site, please double-check the printout with the words on the screen, as some words or parts of words may drop off at the edges. Those with no Internet access at home can go to the web site at any public library to download and print this information, usually for about 5-10 cents/page. Anyone preferring to receive this information in the mail should send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Sandra Larsen, 916 N 49 th Ave., Omaha, NE 68132, specifying which grade lists to send.

Junior Division Rules

Pre-registration is appreciated but not required. It is helpful for spelling bee organizers to have your information in order to plan for the number of people participating and to streamline check-in. Please e-mail sjlarsen@cox.net or call 558-5409 with the following information (or include the info with your SASE as noted above):

1) name of speller
2) grade level
3) parent name
4) phone number

Spelling Lists:

Word List: Scanned document of word list, jpg format (2 pages).
Labels: Words merged into Microsoft Word label file. Can be printed on cardstock, then cut into index cards.
Excel List: Words typed into Microsoft Excel file. Can be manipulated into other formats as you wish.

Senior Division (grades 8 and under—no minimum grade limit)

Senior Division spellers are not divided by grades. Any interested students in grades 8 and under may participate. The Senior Division rules, spelling bee information and study resources are available on-line at the Scripps web site, www.spellingbee.com. In the past, Senior Division format and procedure for the elimination of spellers was the same as that of the Junior Division, but this year we will follow the new procedure as detailed by Scripps.

The 2008 study booklet Spell It! is now available free on-line as well, at www.myspellit.com. This is downloadable in PDF format. While this booklet is an excellent resource, please note the pronouncers at the local bees (including the HEN, Douglas County, and Midwest Regional bees) are not limited to the words in Spell It! The Omaha Public Library and HEN have not obtained reprint rights for this booklet, so this cannot be mailed to you, although it can be printed at the public library, usually for about 5-10 cents/page.

Senior Division students also are not required to pre-register, but doing so is appreciated by those organizing the bee. Please e-mail sjlarsen@cox.net or call 558-5409 with the following information:

1) name of speller
2) age and grade on the date of the bee
3) parent name
4) phone number

Parents of Senior Division spellers who advance to the Douglas County Spelling Bee may have the opportunity to represent HEN in our larger community. The Douglas County Spelling Bee is annually passed on to the winner's school. This means that should your child win 1 st place at the county level, you would be the host of the 2009 Douglas County Spelling Bee. Homeschoolers did win, and indeed did host the county bee twice in recent years, both times with help from HEN and HEN volunteers. Contact Sandra Larsen and/or the HEN Board if your child wins at the county level to receive all the information and advice you need.

Please e-mail sjlarsen@cox.net or call Sandra Larsen at 558-5409 with any questions. Looking forward to seeing you at the HEN Spelling Bee!

Encyclopedia Britannica Award

Encyclopedia Britannica has awarded a free one-year subscription of Britannica Online, Student Edition (a $69.95 value) to each school-level spelling bee. The winner of HEN’s senior division will receive this prize, a first for our spelling bee. Encyclopedia Britannica says this subscription includes unlimited access to two student-appropriate encyclopedias, an atlas, dictionary, and thesaurus, as well as thousands of articles for students ages 8 and up. Since this is an online subscription, it does require Internet access.

This same subscription is also offered at a 50% discount to all participants in the bee. Please ask for more information when you sign in at the bee on January 25.

Questions can be directed to Sandra Larsen, 558-5409 or sjlarsen@cox.net.