CONGRATULATIONS to Anjali Nair the 2010 Arizona Spelling Bee Champion who outspelled 26 other finalists at the Arizona Spelling Bee Saturday, March 27, 2010. Anjali is an 8th grader at McKemy Middle School in Tempe. The winning word was regurgitant, which means throwing or flowing back. Anjali represented Arizona in the 83rd Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington DC on June 2-4, 2010. Runners-up at the 2010 Arizona Spelling Bee were:

2nd Place: Morgan Richman, Phoenix Country Day School, Paradise Valley
3rd Place: Mitchell Behling, Hamilton Prep Academy, Chandler
4th Place: Jose Fierro, Western Sky Middle School, Litchfield Park
5th Place: Teja Tangirala, Paragon Science Academy, Chandler

WHAT IS IT?
The Spelling Bee is an event that challenges children K-8 to utilize their spelling and phonetic skills in a competitive environment. The top 27 spellers in the state compete in the Arizona Spelling Bee to determine who will represent Arizona in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. The winner and an escort receive an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete with spellers from all over the nation.

ENROLLMENT: Individual school enrollment to qualify students who wish to participate in the 2010 Arizona Spelling Bee will take place between August 17, 2009 and October 16, 2009. Late enrollment will be available to schools from October 17, 2009, to December 18, 2009 ($99 + $75 penalty). To enroll, schools must visit www.spellingbee.com and follow the instructions to enroll their school. IMPORTANT: In order to participate in the 2010 Arizona Spelling Bee, a student must attend a school (or homeschool) that has enrolled with Scripps National Spelling Bee and has paid its enrollment fee. Scripps does not accept purchase orders. If you enroll before the October 16 deadline, you may pay by check or credit card. If you choose the "pay by check" option on Scripps' website, it will generate an invoice, which will tell you where to mail your check, and a W-9 form. Scripps will charge $7.50 in addition to the $99 enrollment fee if you pay by check, for a total of $106.50. Your enrollment status will show as "pending" until Scripps receives your check. If you enroll during the late enrollment period - October 17 - December 18, payment will be accepted by credit card only. Questions about payment, fees and enrollment with Scripps should be emailed to bee@scripps.com or call 513-977-3040.

2009 Arizona Spelling Bee Champion: So-Young Chung, a 7th Grader at Terramar Elementary School in Peoria is the winner of the 2009 Arizona Spelling Bee, held Saturday, March 28, 2009. So-Young, the returning champion, out-spelled 26 other students with the winning word solecismin the 15th round of the Bee. A solecism is an ungrammatical combination of words in a sentence. So-Young will represent Arizona at the 82nd Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee May 26-28 in Washington, D.C. Runners up in the Arizona Spelling Bee were:
2nd place: Raymie Humbert, 8th Grade, Kyrene del Pueblo Middle School, Chandler;
3rd Place: Jim Denker, 8th Grade homeschooler from Tucson;
4th Place: Hannah Fechter, 7th Grade, Alhambra Traditional School, Phoenix;
5th Place: David Joe, 8th Grade, White Cliffs Middle School, Kingman.

WHEN DOES IT HAPPEN?
Dec/January (early) - School Bees
January (late) - District Bees
February (late) - County and Regional Bees
March 27, 2010- Arizona Spelling Bee at 1:00 p.m. - Eight, Arizona PBS Studio, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication - Phoenix
May 2010 - 83rd Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, Washington D.C.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Schools must enroll with the Scripps National Spelling Bee to be eligible to compete at the Arizona State Spelling Bee (see above). To become one of the 27 finalists in the Arizona State Spelling Bee, students must win their school spelling bee. They then must win their district bees. Finally, each county holds a bee to determine who competes as a finalist in the state bee. Due to the size of Maricopa County, six regional bees are held. The winner and runner-up from each of the six regional competitions become finalists in the state bee. Pima County sends two contestants to the state bee. Other Arizona counties send one representative to the Arizona Spelling Bee.

WHAT ARE THE REWARDS?

The winner of the Arizona Spelling Bee receives:

• A trip for 2 to Washington, D.C. to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee
• $500 cash
• A Webster’s Third New International Dictionary
• A $100 savings bond
• The Great Books of the Western World - a 60-volume set from Harrison Middleton University

Four runners-up receive

• $50 Savings Bond

All 27 State finalists receive

• A choice of The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy or Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary from Harrison Middleton University

WHO MAKES THIS POSSIBLE?
U.S. AIRWAYS is the Presenting Sponsor of the Arizona Spelling Bee.

Additional support provided by:

KAET-Channel 8
Safeway

Click here for information about Arizona's Dictée des Amériques (French writing contest).