SUN Staff Report
Rio Arriba public and private schools should be holding their class-wide spelling bees this month if they want to participate in the 2009 County spelling bee sponsored by the Rio Grande SUN
In December, after selecting winners in each eligible class, schools should hold school-wide spelling bees. Schools can choose any words they want for their in-school spelling bees. Also, the Scripps National Spelling Bee’s official study guide, “Spell It!,” contains a word list. This guide can be downloaded at no charge at http://www.myspellit.com/.
All students attending public and private elementary and middle schools within Rio Arriba County are eligible to participate in the County Bee.
Students in grades two through eight are eligible to participate in the bee. Participants must not have reached their 15th birthday on or before Sept. 1, 2008.
This will be the fourth consecutive year the SUN has hosted the event. The Bee is scheduled for Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. at Northern New Mexico College’s Performing Arts Auditorium in Española. Northern has once again waived its facility use fee as a cosponsor of the event.
The SUN will form a spelling list using words from “Spell It!” and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary Eleventh Edition for the County Bee.
Schools with 200 or more students may send two representatives to the County spelling bee. Schools with less than 200 students may send only one representative.
The winner of the Rio Arriba County Spelling Bee will qualify for the state tournament. The Albuquerque Journal and Newspapers in Education will host the statewide bee which is scheduled for March 2009. To participate in the statewide and national bees, participating schools are required to enroll into the Scripps National Spelling Bee at www.spellingbee.com and pay a $99 fee. The schools then will be sent 26 copies of “Spell It!.”
For more information, call SUN Assistant News Editor Sarah Welsh at 753-2126.