RULES

TERMS & CONDITIONS

ENTRY & RELEASE FORM

THE NEW ZEALAND VEGEMITE SPELLING BEE

CONTACT

The New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee is organised by event manager, Janet Lucas.
Email: info@spellingbee.co.nz
Phone: 021 709 124

The aim of the New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee is to help students enhance their language skills, enjoy the challenge of learning some new words which they will have for life and experience a classroom spelling bee.

Year Eight spellers have the opportunity of doing The Top 100 Test. This is a written spelling bee administered in the classroom and used to select the top 200 spellers nationwide who earn a place in one of the five regional spelling bees around the country in late November.

Making it into the top 200 Year Eight spellers is a huge achievement and worthy of celebration. It also provides the students with the opportunity to compete in an oral spelling bee and compete against other top spellers from their region. This is a once in a life time experience that many will have seen from watching Spellbound and Akeelah and the Bee.

The top 14 finalists from the five regional spelling bees win a place at the New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee Final in February 2012 to compete for the chance to represent New Zealand at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington DC.

The competition, inspired by the American Oscar nominated movie documentary Spellbound www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/spellbound/ is overseen by a charitable trust.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is the United States' biggest and longest running educational promotion.

TEACHERS
It costs schools $99US for each eligible participating school to register with Scripps. The deadline for registration is 15 October 2011. Email info@spellingbee.co.nz to find out how to register.

PARENTS AND STUDENTS
If you would like your school to be involved in the New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee, please talk to your teacher. Schools must register with Scripps.

ABOUT THE NEW ZEALAND VEGEMITE SPELLING BEE

Your school’s enrolment (cost $US99 for each participating school) will ensure that all your students are eligible to take part in this fun and educational program and your Year Eight Spellers are eligible to participate in the New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee and the chance to spell their way to Washington DC to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in June 2012.
The deadline for registration is 15 October 2011. Email info@spellingbee.co.nz to register. You can either do it through the New Zealand Spelling Bee and be invoiced or through www.spellingbee.com. The former is easier.

Primary Schools with Year Eight students must register with the Scripps National Spelling Bee so they are eligible to participate in the New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee.
Intermediate Schools and Composite Schools with Year Eight students must register with Scripps National Spelling Bee so their Year Eight students are eligible for the New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee.
Primary schools wanting to run a spelling bee but who do not have Year Eight students please email info@spellingbee.co.nz and the resources will be sent to you at no charge.

How the New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee will work

Each enrolled school will receive electronic resource materials with which it will be able to run a Spelling Bee for its Year Eight students. The pack will also include the resources it needs to run its school-wide Spelling Bee.

Children will get a Classroom Word List of between 20-50 words depending on their year to help them prepare for the Spelling Bee.

Year Eight children will have a Classroom Word List of 50 words and will have a spelling test, The Top 100 Test. This test is made up of 100 words, 50 from the Word list and 50 words that they have not seen will come from the Concise Oxford English Dictionary 11th Ed.

The teachers will mark the spellers’ tests and email the Event Organiser to confirm the Spelling Bee has been held.

The Year Eight results are sent by schools to the Event Manager of the New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee who will prepare a ranking list based on the scores. The results will be used to identify the top Year 8 spellers from around the country, who will then advance to one of five regional Spelling Bees in November.

The top fourteen finalists from the five regional competitions will advance to the New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee Final, which will be held in Wellington on Saturday 3 March 2012.

Any finalists who live outside of the lower North Island, together with one accompanying adult, will be given an airfare to fly to Wellington to compete in the final competition.

The overall Champion New Zealand Speller will then be flown to the United States to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, to be held over May 27 through June 1, 2012 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center near Washington, D.C.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee, now in its 85th year, is the world's longest running academic competition and has been held more times than the Academy Awards. The Bee has become a cultural phenomenon in the United States, with 11 million children competing in school competitions across the US as well as countries from around the world, including New Zealand. The competition is screened live in the USA on prime time TV.

14 November
15 November
16 November
17 November
23 November

Lower South Island Semi Final in Dunedin (2 finalists)
Upper South Island Semi-Final in Christchurch ( 2 finalists)
Central North Island Semi-Final in Hamilton (2 finalists)
Upper North Island Semi-Final in Auckland (4 finalists)
Lower North Island Final in Wellington (4 finalists)

ENROLLMENT

How to enroll with Scripps

To take part in the New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee, your school must first be enrolled with the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the United States of America.

To do so, go to www.spellingbee.com and follow the "Enrol Now" prompt.

The site will prompt you for your school details, a contact person, and the enrolment fee of US$99 (which must be made by credit card or equivalent).

Alternatively you can email info@spellingbee.co.nz to complete your school’s enrolment and then invoice your school.

Once enrolment is complete, schools will have immediate access to spelling bee materials provided by Scripps National Spelling Bee, and will also be emailed the New Zealand Vegemite School Spelling Bee Kit which includes:

details on how to plan and run your classroom and school spelling bee
word lists for students up to year eight
a spelling test template
a participation certificate template
materials to help your school turn the spelling bee into a fundraising project: complete with pledge sheets, test forms, instructions, and communication templates.

New Zealand schools do not use the word lists on the Scripps website because they are American-English. The word lists for New Zealand schools are English-English and are checked with the Concise Oxford English Dictionary 11ed. Registering with the Scripps National Spelling Bee will however give you access to the wordlists used in the United States Bee and extra resources including the spelling bee guide, Spell It!

Early enrolment bonus

Enrol by September 30 and your school will receive two bonuses from Encyclopedia Britannica for use in your school – a total value of nearly $US140.

The New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee Final

The New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee Final is in Wellington on Saturday 3 March 2012.

Finalists outside of the Lower North Island win airfares for themselves and a parent/caregiver to travel to Wellington.

This Spelling Bee is an oral competition using the rules based on the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The 14 finalists are advised to study the 2012 Spell It! Study Guide before the New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee Final. This is a challenging list of approximately 1,150 words divided into sections by language of origin.

PRIZES

The Champion Speller wins:

Champion Speller Trophy,
Airfares to Washington DC for the speller and an adult chaperone plus seven night’s accommodation to represent New Zealand at the US Final. The prize also includes $500 US to cover meals and incidental costs.
A copy of the Webster’s Third New International Dictionary
A $100 US Series Savings Bond

FINAL

All Finalists outside of the Lower North Island win airfares for two to travel to the New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee Final on Saturday 3 March 2012. All Finalists win a New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee Medal.

Semi-Finalists will receive a New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee Semi-Finalist Certificate.

School Spelling Bee Fundraiser - Turn your fun and educational School Spelling Bee into a Fundraiser…Click here for more information.

TIMEFRAME

25 August - 15 October	Schools with eligible students (Year Eight) enrol with Scripps National Spelling Bee and pay $US99).
25 August -15 October	Enrolled schools emailed documents they need to run a school spelling bee (class room wordlists, test sheet, participation certificate).
1 October - 2 November	Enrolled schools run classroom spelling bees.
2 November	All enrolled schools send test results for Year Eight Spellers to event organizer.
7 November	Semi-finalists announced.
14 November 15 November 16 November 17 November 21 November	Lower South Island Semi Final in Dunedin (2 finalists) Upper South Island Semi-Final in Christchurch ( 2 finalists) Central North Island Semi-Final in Hamilton (2 finalists) Upper North Island Semi-Final in Auckland (4 finalists) Lower North Island Final in Wellington (4 finalists)
3 March	New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee Final in Wellington
27 May - 1 June	Champion speller travels to Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center near Washington DC to participate in Bee Week and compete in Scripps National Spelling Bee.