$1,000 Spelling Bee

The $1,000 National Elementary School Spelling Bee is designed to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabulary, and develop correct English usage.

All U.S. public-, private-, parochial- and home-schooled students are allowed to enter and any number of spellers from a school is welcome to compete. Students in grades 3-5 are eligible and words begin on a fifth-grade level. Students do NOT need a school's permission to compete.

STUDENTS ARE ELIMINATED from the competition after misspelling one word. The rules are fashioned after the Scripps National Spelling Bee, a contest for students up to and including grade eight.

The 11th annual bee will take place Sun., Mar. 4, 2011; 2 p.m. at Bayshore Church, 5100 E. The Toledo, Long Beach, 90803.  The Bee is hosted by Justin Rudd and his nonprofit 501c3 Community Action Team (C.A.T.), and the prize money comes from their Long Beach Turkey Trot.  The bee is expected to last 2 ½ hours. 

Some partial-entry scholarships are available to low-income spellers, upon request to Justin@JustinRudd.com.  Otherwise, the entry fee is $30/advance or $40 at the door.  It is $5 to spectate.  Doors open at 1:20 p.m.

There is no study guide for this Bee, and words will come from Merriam-Webster’s 11th edition dictionary.  Entry forms, sample words, rules and pre-registrants list at www.SpellingBees.com 

The pronouncer will again be Kate Karp, the 2006 Adult Spelling Bee champion (another Bee hosted by Rudd’s C.A.T.).  And, Gazette Newspapers' Harry Saltzgaver will serve as guest pronouncer for round 1.