Scripps Gbuideee Week 2012
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SCRIPPS GBUIDEEE WEEK 2012 Inside the Guide Schedule • About Our Program • How It Works • Rules • Prizes • Statistics Winning Words • Spellers and Sponsors • Offi cials and Staff Table of Contents Competition Schedule ..................................................1 About Our Program ........................................................2 How Our Spelling Bee Works.......................................3 Rules .....................................................................................4 Twenty Questions (Answered) ....................................7 Prizes ....................................................................................9 Statistics ........................................................................... 10 Meet the Spellebrities .................................................12 Champions and Their Winning Words .................. 13 Spellers and Sponsors ................................................ 14 Leadership and Year-Round Staff ...........................26 Offi cials............................................................................. 27 Bee Week Staff ...............................................................28 What is The word bee, as used in spelling bee, is one of those language puzzles that has never been satisfactorily accounted for. A fairly old the origin and widely used word, it refers to a community social gathering at which friends and neighbors join together in a single activity of the term (sewing, quilting, barn raising, etc.) usually to help one person or family. The earliest known example in print is a spinning bee, in 1769. spelling Other early occurrences are husking bee (1816), apple bee (1827), and logging bee (1836). Spelling bee is apparently an American term. It bee? fi rst appeared in print in 1875, but it seems certain that the term was used orally for several years before that. Those who used the word, including most early students of language, assumed that it was the same word as referred to the insect. They thought that this particular meaning had probably been inspired by the obvious similarity between these human gatherings and the industrious, social nature of a beehive. But in recent years scholars have rejected this explanation, suggesting instead that this bee is a completely diff erent word. One possibility is that it comes from the Middle English word bene, which means “a prayer” or “a favor” (and is related to the more familiar word boon). In England, a dialect form of this word, been or bean, referred to “voluntary help given by neighbors toward the accomplishment of a particular task” (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary). Bee may simply be a shortened form of been, but no one is entirely certain. Competition Schedule Tuesday, May 29 The 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee Preliminaries ROUND ONE TEST Times by reservation. Chesapeake Room F Wednesday, May 30 The 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee Preliminaries ROUND TWO 8:00 – 11:45 a.m. Maryland Ballroom • Spellers 1 through 138 spell onstage between 8:00 and 9:45 a.m. • Spellers 139 through 278 spell onstage between 10:00 and 11:45 a.m. • Live on ESPN3.com ROUND THREE 1:15 – 5:15 p.m. Maryland Ballroom • Spellers 1 through 138 spell onstage between 1:15 and 3:00 p.m. • Spellers 139 through 278 spell onstage between 3:30 and 5:15 p.m. • Live on ESPN3.com Thursday, May 31 The 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee Semifi nals 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Maryland Ballroom • Live on ESPN2 • Opening remarks and introductions at 9:45 a.m. The 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee Championship Finals 8:00 – 10:00 p.m. Maryland Ballroom • Live on ESPN • Opening remarks and introductions at 7:45 p.m. 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee • 1 About Our Program The Scripps National Spelling Bee is the nation’s largest and longest-running educational program. We are administered on a not-for-profi t basis by The E.W. Scripps Company in cooperation with local spelling bee sponsors in the United States, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and Department of Defense Schools in Europe; and international sponsors in the Bahamas, Canada, China, Ghana, Jamaica, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. Purpose classroom, grade, and school level to choose Our purpose is to help students improve their their representative for the next level of spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn competition. Students may further compete in concepts and develop correct English usage district, county, or regional spelling bees before that will help them all their lives. earning the right to represent their communities at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Organization HeadquartersH Students OurO year-round staff , More than 11 million students participated basedba in Cincinnati, Ohio, in this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee at organizesorr the national fi nals, one level or another. To prepare, students use producespr word lists and study materials created by us and Merriam- studystt materials, works with Webster, using Webster’s Third New International locallol spelling bee sponsors Dictionary and its addenda section, copyright andan enrolls schools. 2002, Merriam-Webster, as our offi cial dictionary. Local Spelling Bee Sponsors All of the spellers here have advanced to the Each year we grant a limited number of Scripps National Spelling Bee by winning a local spelling bee sponsorships to media series of spelling bees as outlined by their local organizations, universities, nonprofi ts and spelling bee sponsors. In general terms, the other community leaders. Most local spelling program is open to students who are 15 years bee sponsors are not owned by The E.W. old or younger, have not passed beyond eighth Scripps Company. In fact, only 13 sponsorships grade and attend schools offi cially enrolled with were awarded to Scripps-owned television our program for the current academic year. See stations and newspapers. page 4 for full eligibility requirements. Local sponsors conduct community spelling History bee programs, usually in cooperation with teachers and administrators at public, private, This is the 85th Annual Scripps National Spelling parochial, charter, virtual and home schools. Bee. The program began in 1925 with nine The champion of each sponsor's program contestants, and Scripps assumed sponsorship qualifi es for participation in the Scripps in 1941. During the World War II years of 1943, National Spelling Bee. 1944 and 1945, no National Spelling Bee was held. The bee declared co-champions in 1950, Schools 1957 and 1962. Of the 87 champions, 46 have been girls and 41 have been boys. See page Every fall, thousands of schools enroll 13 for a complete list of champions and their in our program. Throughout the fall and winning words. winter, schools conduct spelling bees at the 2 • 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee How Our Spelling Bee Works For the complete Contest Rules of the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee, please see pages 4-6. Tuesday, May 29 ring the bell. Instead, the pronouncer will off er the correct spelling, and Round One Test: Throughout the morning. the speller will remain onstage until the Round One is a computer-based spelling test taken conclusion of the round. by all 278 spellers. Scores from the test will be combined Immediately after the conclusion of Round Three, with the results of Rounds Two and Three to determine the Bee offi cials will determine the Semifi nalists in our Semifi nalists. accordance with Rule 4 in the Contest Rules (see page At his or her appointed time, each speller will enter 5). Each speller will receive 1 point for each score word the testing room and log in to the secure testing system spelled correctly during the Round One Test and 3 points with a unique user name and password. Access to the for each word spelled correctly during Rounds Two and testing room during testing hours will be restricted to Three, for a maximum possible score of 31. Spellers spellers and Bee staff . scoring higher than at least 228 other spellers will advance to the Semifi nals. Members of the Bee staff will proctor the test. Pronouncer Dr. Jacques Bailly will not appear in person at the About fi ve minutes after the conclusion of Round Three, test. Instead, spellers will hear a recording of Dr. Bailly the names of the Semifi nalists will be announced. pronouncing each word, and information about each word (origin, part of speech, defi nition, sentence) will be displayed Thursday, May 31 on-screen. The test will have no time limit, and spellers will Semifi nals: 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. be given multiple opportunities to review their answers and word information prior to submitting their fi nal answers. Championship Finals: 8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Spellers will spell 50 words, but only 25 spellings will count During these rounds, spellers compete onstage. In toward each speller’s Preliminaries score. Bee offi cials will general, a speller is out of the competition once he or have chosen these “score words” prior to May 29, but score she misspells. The head judge will ring a bell after a word status will not be apparent to the speller. Bee offi cials misspelling, and the pronouncer will then give the will publicly identify score words immediately after Round correct spelling. Three. Each speller’s test score will be emailed to his or her Naming the Champion: If only one speller correctly parents during Round Three on Wednesday, May 30. spells his or her word during a round, that speller will be asked to spell another word in a new round. If that word Wednesday, May 30 is spelled correctly, that speller will be named champion Round Two: 8:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. of the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee. If that word is spelled incorrectly, however, all spellers who competed Round Three: 1:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. the previous round are back in the competition, and a Spellers will spell onstage during Rounds Two new round begins. See Rule 12 on page 6 for the full and Three. No one will be eliminated during end-of-Bee procedure. these rounds. If a speller misspells during Rounds Two or Three, the head judge will not 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee • 3 Contest Rules of the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee 1.