Rotary Club of the San Juans Annual Spelling Bee April 3rd 2025!

The Rotary Club of San Juan Island is buzzing with anticipation about your participation in our annual community Spelling Bee on April 3rd, 3:00 PM. THIS IS A LIVE EVENT AT THE ISLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN FRIDAY HARBOR, not virtual. Please let Paul Mayer know if you will need transport from the ferry to the event.

Here’s what Spellers can expect when they arrive.

1. Please get to the event 30 minutes early, at 2:30 PM, so that participants can check in, get

name badges and get settled. The Bee will start at 3:00.

2. The master of ceremonies will meet with spellers at 3 PM, go over rules; and calm butterflies.

3. Rotary provides snacks and water.

4. There will be two mikes to keep things moving along, so be sure when it’s your turn, approach the mike and have fun spelling words!

We will seat spellers in the order of their grade, with the oldest students going first.

When the spellers are first introduced, we may announce name, grade, classroom teacher, and some funny stuff such as their favorite word, nickname, pet’s name, favorite joke, favorite book, etc. We want to help the spellers relax, and we want everyone to have fun so please encourage your spellers to include some fun information in their bios! If we have 40 plus spellers like last year, we will probably forgo some of the initial introductions.

We will do a practice round so all spellers have an opportunity to go through the process. The Pronouncer will say the word. The speller may ask for the word to be used in a sentence. The speller will repeat the word, then spell it. A speller may start over, but may not change the letters already given. When the word has been spelled, the speller will repeat the word to indicate spelling is completed. The judges will hold up a red card if spelling is incorrect, or a green card to indicate successful spelling.

If they miss their word and get the red card, they leave the stage via steps to the left, and return to thetheatre seating area. We reserve a seating area on the right side of the theatre if spellers want to sitthere; or they can sit elsewhere in the theatre with their friends or family. As they leave the stage they are given a medallion. When half of the spellers have been eliminated, the remaining students will be rearranged in the front row.

When only two spellers are left, the rules change. If a student misspells a word, the other contestant must spell that word correctly, and will then be given the next word that must be spelled correctly to win the Spelling Bee.