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Spelling Bee

Spelling Bee

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

The English Department of Villa Joseph Marie High School cordially invites your school to join us for our second annual Spelling Bee. Students from local grade schools and middle schools will participate in this one-day event to be held in Villa’s Performing Arts Center. Each school is invited to send five students, consisting of eighth-, seventh-, and/or sixth-grade students. Note: Teams must be made up of all females.

We hope that you can join us for this educational, fun-filled event. Please respond whether or not your school will be participating so that we can plan our activities accordingly. Thank you and we look forward to seeing you.

Registration for Villa's 2025 Bee is now open!

Register Now

Required

School Name*required

School Moderator Name*required

Email*required

Phone Number*required

Each school is invited to send five students, consisting of eighth-, seventh-, and/or sixth-grade students. Please note the grade level of each student. Note: Teams must be made up of all females.

How many students will be participating?*required

Student 1

Grade*required

8th

7th

6th

Student 2

Grade*required

8th

7th

6th

Student 3

Grade*required

8th

7th

6th

Student 4

Grade*required

8th

7th

6th

Student 5

Grade*required

8th

7th

6th

Information for those participating in or attending the event

Information for those participating in or attending the event

The top eighth, seventh, and sixth grader will each be awarded a $500 one-time scholarship for Villa Joseph Marie.
- Scholarships for the top seventh and sixth grader will be held until the student is of high school age.
Family members are welcome to attend the Spelling Bee.
Spellers will be asked to arrive between 8:15 – 8:30 a.m. on the day of the event, with the day’s activities beginning promptly at 8:45 a.m. Prior to the event, registrants will be provided with a full schedule for the day. Winners will be determined no later than 2:00 p.m.
Students will first compete as a team, representing their school. Students will advance to later rounds of competition on an individual basis.
The Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary is the official dictionary of the competition and is the source of words and word information for all rounds of competition.
The Bee will be conducted in rounds and will be conducted orally.
After hearing each word, spellers may request a definition, sentence, part of speech, or language of origin. Alternate pronunciations, alternate definitions, or requests for slower pronunciation will not be given.
There will be 90-second time limits for spellers from the time that the pronouncer says each word.
The judges will determine whether words are spelled correctly. They are in complete control of the competition, and their decisions are final on all questions.
The judges will participate in an exchange of information between the speller and the pronouncer if they feel that clarification is needed. If they sense that the speller has misunderstood the word, the judges will work with the speller and pronouncer until they are satisfied that reasonable attempts have been made to assist the speller in understanding the word. The judges are not responsible for the speller’s misunderstanding.
Spelling Bee rounds will continue until the judges declare the end of the competition.
The Spelling Bee will have a special spell-off round in the event a champion can't be determined in a set time limit.
- In a spell-off, all non-eliminated spellers are given 90 seconds to spell a series of words from a separate list. Spellers cannot pass or skip words and must make an honest attempt at spelling each word.
- The speller who spelled the most words correctly during their turn is declared champion. If a single champion doesn't emerge, then the remaining spellers who earn the same top score are declared co-champions and will split the prize.
If all spellers in a round misspell or answer incorrectly, they all remain in competition and a new round begins, starting in their original order from the previous round.
If only one speller spells or answers correctly in any round prior to the Final, then a new round begins. The speller is given a word on the event’s Finals Word List. If they correctly spell their word, they are declared champion. If they misspell it, a new round begins with all the spellers from the previous round, again in their original order.
Photos from the Bee may be taken and shared in Villa Joseph Marie’s print and digital publications. By participating in and/or attending the Bee, consent for image capture is implied unless parents inform otherwise.

Christa Chirico '11
English Teacher

Rachel Heuckroth
English Department Chair

Maureen Mathis
Director of Admission
215-357-8810 ext. 209
mamathis@vjmhs.org

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Villa Joseph Marie

1180 Holland Road Holland, PA 18966
215-357-8810
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