January – May monthly spelling bees are held for grades 1-5. 5th grade starts in January, 4th in February, etc.
The words are taken from the spelling list from that grade. If they run out of words, they take words from the
grade above. Grades 4 and 5 are run like a regular spelling bee – the child is notified right away if they
spell the word correctly or not. If they misspell the word, they are out of the spelling bee. Grades 1-3 have
10 or so rounds where each child spells a word and is not notified if they spelled it correctly or not. Every
child stays in the competition until about 8 kids are left. Then those spellers that have spelled all of the
words correctly through all the rounds move on to the final round. The final round is run like a regular spelling bee.
The Spelling Bee chairman gathers the spelling word lists for each grade and makes up sentences for each word. They
send home information about the spelling bees and a form for the kids to sign-up for the bee. They recruit a caller
and judge for each Spelling Bee. They also put together prizes for the winners and gift bags for all spellers in grades
1-3, and winner of grades 4-5.