2022 Arkansas State Spelling Bee

The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas will sponsor the Arkansas State Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 5, 2022 at The Vines Center located at 1 Four-H Way, Little Rock, AR 72223. The event begins at 10:00 a.m. Spellers must arrive between 8:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. Spellers arriving after 9:00 a.m. may not be able to participate.

Last year over 40,000 students from nearly 300 schools in 57 counties across Arkansas participated in local and county contests leading up to the State Bee. This year, one winner from each participating county will advance and compete in the Arkansas State Spelling Bee. This year's State Champion will have the opportunity to compete in Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The purpose of the Scripps National Spelling Bee program is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts and develop correct English usage that will help them throughout their lives.

UPDATE: 2/21/2022

The Arkansas State Spelling Bee will be open to the public. Guest restrictions are no longer in place.

Any speller and their guests that would like to arrive on Friday evening and stay overnight at The Vines Center can make room reservations by calling Marcia Shepard at 501-821-4444 . Rooms are fully furnished, hotel-style, and are available for $69.00.

Rules & Study Materials

School/County Level Bees - In-Person & Virtual Bee Options

This year, school and county coordinators will continue to have access to the Online Testing Platform for situations where an in-person bee is not possible or advised. The goal with this tool is to give you maximum flexibility in the administration of your local spelling bee programs.

As teachers at your school deliver classroom instruction, manage remote learning or perform a combination of the two, they can offer a traditional oral spelling bee or administer an online spelling and/or word meaning test, which students can take on any device with a web browser, at school or from home. This platform, included with a school's enrollment, ensures schools can host competitions and name champions under any foreseeable circumstances.

The School Online Testing Platform will be available to educators at your enrolled schools through the Teacher Portal at spellingbee.com on September 30, 2021. County Coordinators that opt to use the Online Testing Platform for a County spelling bee will have the Online Testing Platform available starting November 30, 2021.

Decisions regarding the choice between in-person or virtual school level bees are solely the decision of each registered school. Decisions regarding the choice between in-person or virtual county level bees are solely the decision of each County Coordinator.

2022 Rules for Local Spelling Bees with Arkansas State Spelling Bee Amendment

(Click HERE to view)

STUDY LISTS STUDENTS UTILIZE TO PREPARE FOR CLASSROOM AND SCHOOL SPELLING BEES

Full School Spelling Bee Study List - (three-page PDF)

WORDS OF THE CHAMPIONS STUDY BOOKLET

(SCRIPPS RECOMMENDED STUDY RESOURCE FOR SCHOOL SPELLING BEE CHAMPIONS)

Words of the Champions - (full-color PDF) Official study resource of the Scripps National Spelling Bee

Words of the Champions - (printer-friendly PDF) Official study resource of the Scripps National Spelling Bee

Important Dates

Important Dates:

9/30/21 - Scripps early bird registration ends - www.spellingbee.com

12/31/21 - School registration deadline - www.spellingbee.com

12/31/21 - Deadline for school-level bees

2/19/22 - Deadline to conduct county spelling bees - Contact your County Coordinator for details about your county bee.

2/21/22 - Deadline for County Coordinator to register county winner for State Bee

2/25/22 - Arkansas State Spelling Bee roster is finalized - Notification must be received by email from County Coordinator by this date if a county winner is not planning to participate in the State Bee so the runner up can be notified and substituted. NO changes to roster will be made after this date.

3/5/22 - Arkansas State Spelling Bee at The Vines Center (1 Four-H Way, Little Rock, AR 72223). Spellers must arrive between 8:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m and the bee will begin at 10:00 a.m. Spellers arriving after 9:00 a.m. may not be able to participate.

Information Coming Soon - Scripps National Spelling Bee - Bee Week - National Harbor, Maryland

Arkansas State Spelling Bee Contact Information

Questions specific to the Arkansas State Spelling Bee should be emailed to arspellingbee@gmail.com.

Questions concerning the Scripps National Spelling Bee are accepted at https://secure.spellingbee.com/public/crm/.

County Bee/Coordinator Information

All counties in Arkansas with multiple schools/groups registered with Scripps must work together to select a county coordinator to schedule and conduct a county spelling bee to determine the speller that will advance and compete at the Arkansas State Spelling Bee. All aspects of county bees are handled by the County Coordinator. As we are made aware of the County Coordinator for each county, their information will be added to the County Coordinator directory below. All rules and decisions made at the school and county levels of competition are final and are not governed by the state sponsor. Counties with multiple schools and/or home school groups that do not conduct a county bee will not be eligible to advance a speller to the Arkansas State Spelling Bee.

A speller competing in the Arkansas State Spelling Bee must be a registered student at a school in the county they are representing. An official letter from a speller’s public/private school may be requested to confirm a speller’s current/active registration. If the speller is a home school student, they must be officially registered with the state of Arkansas as a home school student in the county they are representing. A verification letter and/or copy of a home school students Notice of Intent to Home School (NOI) form from the Arkansas Department of Education may be requested to confirm a speller’s county of residence and active status as a home school student. It is understood that some home school students may not reside in the same county as the home school organization they are associated with.

If you have questions specific to the Arkansas State Spelling Bee, please email arspellingbee@gmail.com.

Directory of participating schools

County Coordinator Directory

If you are a school or County Coordinator and have questions or need help preparing for your bee, please contact Scripps by visiting http://www.spellingbee.com/contact. Scripps has staff dedicated to assisting school and county coordinators with all aspects of the bee process.

Spelling Bee Recordkeeping Sheet

Recordkeeping Sheet - (Printable Sample & Blank Sheets)

Media/Press Contact Information

Media inquiries for the Arkansas State Spelling Bee should be directed to Rob Roedel, Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, 501.570.2296 or rob.roedel@aecc.com.

Directions To The Vines Center

From I-430 in Little Rock, take Exit 9 and travel west on Cantrell Road.

Continue on Cantrell Road/Hwy 10 for approximately 8.2 miles

Turn left on Ferndale Cutoff Road and follow for approximately 5.5 miles.

Turn right on Four H Way

The Vines Center is ahead and to your right.