eligibility        enroll your school        the speller's path        faqs        timeline        past winners

county and regional bee coordinators

eligibility.

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• To participate in the 2020 Arizona Spelling Bee, a student must attend a school in Arizona that is enrolled with the Scripps National Spelling Bee on or before the deadline December 20th, 2019.

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• There is no minimum grade or age level at the state or national finals; however, spelling bee officials at the classroom, school or district level may, at their discretion, set a minimum grade and/or age limit.

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• A student is eligible to compete if he or she has not passed beyond the eighth grade on or before February 1, 2020 and has not reached his or her 15th birthday before August 31, 2019.

• To qualify for the AEF™ Arizona Spelling Bee, a speller must win preliminary bees at the classroom, school, district*, and county/regional levels.  A district run-off is needed in the following instances:

  • Public Schools: If there are multiple schools from the same district enrolled, you must hold a district wide run-off to select the student(s) that will advance to the county/regional bee.

  • Charter Schools: If there are multiple charter schools operating under the same LEA, CMO, EMO, (such as BASIS, Great Hearts, etc.), you must hold a run-off to select the student(s) that will advance to the county/regional bee. Even if each school in a charter network is considered an independent LEA, if they are part of a larger network, a run-off is needed.

  • Private Schools:  If there are multiple private schools operating under the umbrella of an organization (such as a Diocese or private management organization), you must hold a run-off to select the student(s) that will advance to the county/regional bee. 

  • Home Schools: If there are multiple home schools operating under the umbrella of an organization or collective, you must hold a run-off to select the student(s) that will advance to the county/regional bee.

  • Independent Schools: If the enrolled school (charter, private, home, virtual) is entirely independent (not associated with any other schools or management organization) the winning speller will advance to the county/regional bee. 

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Not sure if your school needs a district bee? Contact Matthew Feller at matthew@azedfoundation.org.

enroll your school.

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• Step #1: Enroll your school on the Scripps National Spelling Bee website. To enroll, click here. In order to compete, Spellers must attend a school enrolled with Scripps. The deadline to register wish Scripps is December 20, 2019.

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• Step #2: Schools pay enrollment fees directly to Scripps. Important note: The Arizona Educational Foundation (AEF) does not accept payment on Scripps' behalf. Questions regarding payment should be sent directly to Scripps. Scripps only accepts checks or credit cards. They do not accept purchase orders.

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• Step #3: Read the Spelling Bee Instructions.

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• Step #4: Read the Spelling Bee Rules.

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• Step #5: Review the materials provide by Scripps such as:

  • Official study lists for students, organized by grade level

  • Study materials for each school spelling champion

  • Official pronouncer guides for classroom and school spelling bees

  • Scripps Book List

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• Step #6: Schedule and hold your school bee before Arizona's deadline of January 10, 2020.

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• Step #7: Send your school champion's information your district bee coordinator (if applicable).

  • If you are a district bee coordinator and need a copy of the District Pronouncer Guide, contact Matthew Feller at matthew@azedfoundation.org.

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• Step #8: District bee coordinators will send the name(s) and student information to the County/Regional Bee Coordinator.

  • Maricopa regions are determined by the boundaries of the public school districts. If you are a private, charter, or home school, the region is determined by the physical address of your school within those boundaries. This resource can be used to help you determine your region.

  • To determine the numbers of students that will advance from your district run-off, divide the number of schools participating by 4.

  • If you are sending more than one speller, but the students' schools are in different regions, the number of spellers advancing does not change, but each speller will advance to the region in which their school resides.

Unsure? Contact Matthew Feller at matthew@azedfoundation.org.

a speller's path to the arizona spelling bee.

faq.

timeline.

staff contact.

For questions about the Spelling Bee, contact Matthew Feller at matthew@azedfoundation.org.

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