RMS PTSA welcomes all students, including those with special needs. Please email specialneeds@rmsptsa.org to discuss accommodations for a student with special needs with so they are able to participate in any of our programs!

School Year: 2023-2024

RMS Spelling Bee Registration 

Register Here

 Registration ends: Friday, November 17, 2023, 11:59 PM

Information Night:  Thursday, November 16, 2023, 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Join the Meeting

Questions? Please email SpellingBeeChair@rmsptsa.org

What is Spelling Bee

A Spelling Bee is conducted in rounds. Each speller remaining in the spelling bee at the start of each round spells one word (format by National Scripps Spelling Bee). Each participant gets a different word. The last participant standing (having correctly spelt all words they were given) is declared the winner.

Spelling Bees have gotten even more popular this last year, with many spelling bees conducted nationally over Zoom or other online platforms and offering thousands of dollars in prize money. More important – they are a great way to strengthen command of the English language, learn new words and concepts and build comprehension skills. It is also a great way to learn how to stand up in front of peers and compete in a friendly way.

RMS participates in the Scripps National Spelling Bee Program (the most prestigious spelling bee in the United States). The Bee is open to all students at Redmond Middle School.

• The competition begins with a written (or online) test of words as well as vocabulary
• Those who clear the cutoff proceed to the school spelling bee
• The winner of the school bee will then proceed to the Seattle Regional Bee and will also have the option to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington DC, televised nationally on ESPN.

The registration fee can be paid online at the time of registration. The fee covers enrollment, and entry into the Final School Spelling Bee (provided that the student qualifies by clearing the Written Round Test).

• After enrollment, the students will receive a word list for preparation provided by the organizers at Scripps (Enroll early to maximize preparation time!)
• There will be a written/online preliminary round in January, followed by an oral spelling competition a few weeks after
• We will conduct mock sessions to help students get familiar with the format.

The school winner will represent RMS at the regional competition in Seattle, where participants from more than 100 schools will compete. The winner from the regionals gets an all-expenses paid entry into the National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C.

Questions? Please email SpellingBeeChair@rmsptsa.org

RMS Spelling Bee Dates

Dates for 2023-2024:

• Written Round Prelims: Wednesday, January 10^th, 2024 [1:30 PM at RMS Library]
• RMS Championship Bee: Saturday, February 10^th, 2024 [Time & Venue TBD]

RMS Spelling Bee Requirements

Speller must be a Redmond Middle School student and must not have reached his/her 15^th birthday on or before August 31^st, of the current school year

After You Register

• You will be given access to the RMS PTSA Teams account, which has the word and vocabulary lists. Please download them and start preparing. The school spelling bee relies primarily on the 450 word and vocabulary list provided by the Scripps Spelling Bee organizers.
• The preliminaries will be a written round and we expect the students to know the meaning of all the words. The test will not be just about spelling – the students will be tested on both vocabulary (meanings) and spellings.
• The written round pattern will also be emailed to your email used to register on this site.
• There is also a “Words of Champions” word list that has 4000 words (organized into three difficulty levels). The final spelling bee will pull words from this 4000-word list if we exhaust the 450-word list.
• The “Words of Champions” list will also be useful to the school winner, since the school winner will participate in the regional competition which will heavily rely on the 4000-word list.
• Please use http://www.merriam-webster.com to hear the pronunciation of each and every word. It also has details about the origin of the word, examples, alternate pronunciation and meaning. This website is recommended by Scripps for pronunciation. The pronouncers will use the Merriam-Webster dictionary as the standard reference for both final school spelling bee and the regionals.

Volunteers

Please reach out to us at spellingbeechair@rmsptsa.org if you're interested!

Note that all volunteers must become RMS PTSA members, if not already AND be LWSD Volunteer Approved!

Join RMS PTSA Now to become a member

Start your LWSD Volunteer Approval process

Sponsors of RMS Spelling Bee

 Thanking our sponsors for providing their support to the School Spelling Bee 

      Title Sponsor 

• Kumon Math and Reading center of Redmond - Downtown (7430 164TH Avenue NE, Suite B220, Redmond, WA 98052)  
• Pizza Twist – Redmond (11523 Avondale Rd NE, Redmond Washington 98052)