HAE Spelling Bee

On Friday, November 19, I held the first (ever?) HAE Spelling Bee as part of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.  We chose to hold a Bee for each grade level, 1-5.  Only the 5th grade winner advances, because at that point the Bee is just for 5th-8th graders.

The origin of our Bee is that Grant is great with words, enjoyed Akeela and the Bee and Spellbound, and wanted to participate in a Bee.  So you know what happens when you mention something like that to the principal, suddenly you are in charge!

I recruited four VT students to  help and we planned it out.  About 80 students participated.  What amazed me was the buzz that the bee (pun intended) created in the school.  Many of the kids really studied from the supplied word list and the level of intensity across all grades was impressive.

I was the overseer for 3-5 grades, then I ran 1-2 grades. I made a point to stay out of Grant's room, which was good since he did end up winning the thing!

Grant with the final round folks

The following Monday, the winners enjoyed a trip on the Hooptie Ride to Books-A-Million to chose a book and to Maggie Moo's for ice cream! I hope this becomes a yearly tradition.