The 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee has crowned its champion, 13-year-old Katharine Close from New Jersey. Serious business for its young participants, the Bee has captured the attention of spellers of all ages. Learn more about the National Spelling Bee.
The Bee-ginning: The first national spelling bee was started in 1925 by the Louisville Courier-Journal and nine contestants participated. Scripps assumed sponsorship of the event in 1941. This was the 79th National Spelling Bee. There was no bee during the World War II years of 1943 to 1945.
Spelling as Sport: Not just an event for kids and parents, the National Spelling Bee has achieved almost cult-like status. Each year, closet bee fanatics are glued to their TVs as teens and preteens spell words many of us have never even heard of. Sports channel ESPN has carried the National Spelling Bee for over a decade and in 2006, for the first time ever, the final rounds appeared in primetime on ABC.
This Year's Spellers: This year, 275 spellers participated in the National Spelling Bee. The youngest speller was 9 and the oldest spellers were 15. Twenty-seven spellers have a parent, sibling or cousin who have also competed in the National Spelling Bee. Two spellers, John Louis Tandy Tamplin and Katharine Close, made their fifth appearances at the Bee.
A Bee? The derivation of "bee" is to describe a group activity is one of the English language's greatest mysteries. No one really knows where or why the word was created. Bee refers to a community gathering where everyone joins to participate in an activity and has been very widely used for hundreds of years. The earliest print usage of bee was in 1769 and that actual term was spinning bee. The term spelling bee was first used in print in 1875 but was evidently used orally several years prior to that.
Battle of the Sexes: Girls have a slight edge over boys in the National Spelling Bee. Of the 82 champions (there have been co-champs declared three times), 43 have been girls and 39 have been boys. This year's winner walked away with more than $40,000 in prizes. Not a bad pay day for a youngster with the knack to spell.
Bee on the Big Screen: The Scripps National Spelling Bee has been the inspiration for two recent films. The first,
'Spellbound,' is a documentary that follows eight spellers as they prepare for and participate in the National Spelling Bee.
'Akeelah and the Bee' is the story of a young girl who rises from her school bee to the National Spelling Bee with the help of her coach, played by Laurence Fishburne.
