2019 Spelling Bee FAQs
When is the spelling bee?
This year's spelling bee is March 16, 2019 at the McKimmon Center, 1101 Gorman St., Raleigh.
When do I need to arrive?
Registration begins at 8:15. The bee begins promptly at 9:00 AM.
What do I wear?
We will provide a t-shirt to all spellers at the event. Spellers should change into the shirts and place their speller numbers on the front of the shirt.
How does the day work?
Spellers will find their seats and get ready for the bee to begin. All spellers should be in their seats by 8:55 AM. (There will be volunteers throughout the day to help you know where to go.)
At 9:00, the written portion of the spelling bee will begin. The first portion consists of 25 multiple choice questions. Volunteers will take these pages after a 20-minute time period. Vocabulary questions are multiple choice. Some ask the speller to identify the appropriately spelled word to fill in a blank in the sentence. Another set gives a definition and asks the speller to choose the word being defined.
After the vocabulary portion, there is a 25-question spelling test. Following this test, students have a 10-15 minute break, and then oral rounds begin. Each student crosses the stage and is given one word to spell.
Following the completion of the oral round, the graders tally the top 20-25 spellers (allowing for ties) to advance to the finals round. The exact time of the finals round depends on the morning schedule and a lunch break.
Where can I find information to study for the bee?
Visit the national spelling bee online home. The Parents & Students tab has resources for preparation. Merriam-Webster's dictionary is the official dictionary of the bee and will be the final authority on correct spellings.
Will all words at the bee be in the study materials?
No. Words at the bee are from Scripps, and they are not guaranteed to be available in study materials. Focus on learning word lists but also looking at prefixes, suffixes, and root words.
Can people come to watch me?
Absolutely! Visitors may sit in the auditorium during the written portion. During the oral rounds, the audience will be able to see all spellers. The oral round typically begins around 10 AM.
What do I need to bring with me?
If you do not return the photo permission release by email before the Bee, please bring it with you. Otherwise, you don't need to bring anything. In fact, you cannot take anything with you into the written portion of the Bee.
Are there any forms I need to complete?
We do have a photo release. Please have a parent or guardian sign and email it to info@wakepage.org or bring a signed copy to the Bee. If you forget, don't worry. We'll have extras available.
Where can I park?
The McKimmon Center has a dedicated parking lot with plenty of spots for you to park.
Can parents leave during the written portion?
This portion takes about an hour, and if parents would like to step out for a bit, that is fine. We only ask that you let a volunteer know and give us a phone number in case we need to reach you quickly. We cannot guarantee the start time of the oral rounds.
What about lunch?
In the future, we'd love to be able to provide lunch. Right now, it's just not possible. There are ample places to eat on Western Boulevard within a mile of McKimmon.
How can we help out the spelling bee?
We're glad you asked! PAGE is an all-volunteer organization, and we host the bee and Super Saturday, which is a day of workshops for K-8 students held in April/May and October each year. We always welcome help with planning any of these events and have jobs large and small if you'd like to help out. We also need money. The spelling bee is a massive financial undertaking for such a small organization. It costs around $6,000 each year with the largest costs being the venue, t-shirts, and the local sponsorship fee we owe to Scripps. If you know of a local business that donates to educational projects, we would love to know! Any connections to help make the bee financially viable in the future would be appreciated.
What if I have other questions?
Email info@wakepage.org with questions.
This year's spelling bee is March 16, 2019 at the McKimmon Center, 1101 Gorman St., Raleigh.
When do I need to arrive?
Registration begins at 8:15. The bee begins promptly at 9:00 AM.
What do I wear?
We will provide a t-shirt to all spellers at the event. Spellers should change into the shirts and place their speller numbers on the front of the shirt.
How does the day work?
Spellers will find their seats and get ready for the bee to begin. All spellers should be in their seats by 8:55 AM. (There will be volunteers throughout the day to help you know where to go.)
At 9:00, the written portion of the spelling bee will begin. The first portion consists of 25 multiple choice questions. Volunteers will take these pages after a 20-minute time period. Vocabulary questions are multiple choice. Some ask the speller to identify the appropriately spelled word to fill in a blank in the sentence. Another set gives a definition and asks the speller to choose the word being defined.
After the vocabulary portion, there is a 25-question spelling test. Following this test, students have a 10-15 minute break, and then oral rounds begin. Each student crosses the stage and is given one word to spell.
Following the completion of the oral round, the graders tally the top 20-25 spellers (allowing for ties) to advance to the finals round. The exact time of the finals round depends on the morning schedule and a lunch break.
Where can I find information to study for the bee?
Visit the national spelling bee online home. The Parents & Students tab has resources for preparation. Merriam-Webster's dictionary is the official dictionary of the bee and will be the final authority on correct spellings.
Will all words at the bee be in the study materials?
No. Words at the bee are from Scripps, and they are not guaranteed to be available in study materials. Focus on learning word lists but also looking at prefixes, suffixes, and root words.
Can people come to watch me?
Absolutely! Visitors may sit in the auditorium during the written portion. During the oral rounds, the audience will be able to see all spellers. The oral round typically begins around 10 AM.
What do I need to bring with me?
If you do not return the photo permission release by email before the Bee, please bring it with you. Otherwise, you don't need to bring anything. In fact, you cannot take anything with you into the written portion of the Bee.
Are there any forms I need to complete?
We do have a photo release. Please have a parent or guardian sign and email it to info@wakepage.org or bring a signed copy to the Bee. If you forget, don't worry. We'll have extras available.
Where can I park?
The McKimmon Center has a dedicated parking lot with plenty of spots for you to park.
Can parents leave during the written portion?
This portion takes about an hour, and if parents would like to step out for a bit, that is fine. We only ask that you let a volunteer know and give us a phone number in case we need to reach you quickly. We cannot guarantee the start time of the oral rounds.
What about lunch?
In the future, we'd love to be able to provide lunch. Right now, it's just not possible. There are ample places to eat on Western Boulevard within a mile of McKimmon.
How can we help out the spelling bee?
We're glad you asked! PAGE is an all-volunteer organization, and we host the bee and Super Saturday, which is a day of workshops for K-8 students held in April/May and October each year. We always welcome help with planning any of these events and have jobs large and small if you'd like to help out. We also need money. The spelling bee is a massive financial undertaking for such a small organization. It costs around $6,000 each year with the largest costs being the venue, t-shirts, and the local sponsorship fee we owe to Scripps. If you know of a local business that donates to educational projects, we would love to know! Any connections to help make the bee financially viable in the future would be appreciated.
What if I have other questions?
Email info@wakepage.org with questions.