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I just saw a post in the newsletter of the Office of English Language Acquisition (see text below) and learned that there is a National SPANISH Spelling Bee! This opens so many avenues for teaching ideas, both in the the direction of primary sources about spelling bees, and in planning participatory activities for students spelling in English and in other languages.
The Wikipedia entry on the spelling bee offers some delightful connection points: the linguistic association with work "bees," the 19th century spelling bees in schools and the National Education Association's "first national spelling bee" held at its convention at which Marie Bolden, a Black girl from Cleveland, OH was named champion.
The entry then goes on to list spelling bees held in countries other than the USA, both in English and in other languages.
Spelling bees, in English and in students' home languages, are a lesson activity option with great opportunities for being a bit silly, whether students are teamed up or competing individually. They also, of course, offer lots of engaging primary source connections.
- Winners in National Spelling Bee received by President Coolidge. 1927 https://lccn.loc.gov/
2016890661. (the image doesn't capture the silly mood I was going for, but maybe that's a feature to have fun with): -
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July 11, 2024
National Spanish Spelling Bee 2024
OELA’s Assistant Deputy Secretary, Montserrat Garibay, gave welcome remarks at the National Spanish Spelling Bee in El Paso, TX. Thirty students from NM, TX, OR, CA, DE, IL, CO, WY, and WA participated at the National Spanish Spelling Bee hosted by the Education Service Region 19. After nearly 6 hours of intense rounds, the NSSB winner clinched the victory with "jovialidad."
The following students won:
1. Antonietta Perozo, Richardson, TX
2. Melody Hinkle, Fort Worth, TX
3. Emiliano Ferran Martínez, El Paso, TX.
!Felicidades estudiantes!
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Esta discusión está llena de jovialidad, gracias 
Alison Noyes
. :-)
There is a great new children's picture book about the National Spanish Spelling Bee:
Spanish Is the Language of My Family by Michael Genhart is a beautiful picture book that follows the story of a young boy participating in a Spanish spelling bee. It goes into some of the history of the Spanish Spelling Bee as well.
I'll bet there are a few TPS Teachers Network members with spelling bee stories of their own. Here, for example, is a photo of an engraved container for little things (or maybe even for makeup) that my mother bought with the prize money she won from a county spelling bee in 1932! She would have been 12 years old.
I don't recall ever participating in an official spelling bee. My son apparently inherited the spelling gene, which he proved by winning the city spelling bee as an eighth grader. He went on to place 6th at the state spelling bee. Later, I was the pronouncer for three years at the Colorado Springs spelling bee, and I had to practice the words beforehand with a dictionary that used the international phonetic symbols. I loved doing it, but I was a bit surprised by the pressure from helicopter parents!
What a fantastic artifact and wonderful memories 
Mary Johnson
!
It is wonderful to come back to this post and to see the great additions. I am going to see if my local bookstore can get me a copy of Spanish Is the Language of My Family with the spelling bee storyline, and I love imagining our own
Mary Johnson
as a pronouncer at a spelling bee--talk about grace under pressure! I feel as if the primary source image she uploaded here should be archived and made searchable someplace that others will find it -- I hope it is! -- and I just love the little hand written note that documents its provenance. Muchisimas gracias a todas.
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