Super Spelling

By Claire Becher and Alice Christie

Every year, third through eighth graders compete in class Spelling Bees with a special word list.  The two winners in each class move on to either a PYP or MYP school bee, and from there the two winners of each competition advance to the district bee on February 13th. From MYP, eighth graders Ian and Eli will be competing. From PYP, fifth graders Cavan and Sabrina will compete.  After the district bee, according to Mrs. Shelpler, “Top 10 of IPS go to regional, which includes all the schools in Marion County. After the regional bee comes Nationals.” Cavan, who went to regionals last year, says, “There was a lot of competition and because only the first-place person advanced to nationals, there was an insane amount of pressure.” All of the spellers have been working very hard and hoping to increase their chances of moving on. Eli says that the most challenging part of the spelling bee is “having to stand up and talk in front of people without slipping up and remembering the words.” Make sure to wish the people in the spelling bee good luck!

Eli

1. How much do you study?

Pretty frequently. 

1. What’s the most challenging thing in the spelling bee?

Probably having to stand up and talk in front of the people without slipping up and remembering the words. 

Mrs. Shepler

1. How do the winners progress?

Top 10 of IPS go to regional, which includes all of the schools in Marion County. 

1. When is it held?

It’s on February 13th at Arsenal Tech. 

1. What’s your role in spelling bees?

In school spelling bees, it’s my job to make sure that in the classroom spelling bees teachers have the resources they need and students get the words. In the school spelling bee, it’s my role to make sure that everything is fair. I also organize who’s going to be our judges and parent participation. 

1. When was the school spelling bee?

Monday, December 18th. 

1. What happens after regionals?

Top three in the district bee will win prizes, don’t know what that’s gonna look like yet. 

It’s also luck of the draw where the next person could have a word that they’ve studied. 

Photographer: Joshua Gurnick

Sabrina and Cavan

1. Are you excited to go to district?

I’m pretty excited, but it’s much harder to study for than the school bee.

1. Do you study?

Not too much

1. What’s your favorite word to spell?

I like to spell all words. 

1. What was your experience with the regional spelling bee?

It was a cool place and there were a lot of people there, there was harder competition and because only the first place person advanced to nationals, there was an insane amount of pressure. 

1. What's the biggest challenge of the spelling bee?

Finding time to practice.