ORGANISATION
The New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee is organised by event manager, Janet Lucas.

Janet Lucas - Email: info@spellingbee.co.nz
Mailing Address: New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee, PO Box 1749, Wellington
Phone: 021 709 124

Janet manages sponsorship, coordinates the regional competitions and national final and supports the champion speller with their preparation for and travel to the 83rd Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee www.spellingbee.com in Washington D.C.

The aim of the New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee 2010 is to reach out to schools across the country to find our best Year 9 speller. The competition, inspired by the American Oscar nominated movie documentary Spellbound,
( www.spellboundmovie.com ) is overseen by a charitable trust.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is the United States' biggest and longest running educational promotion.

PATRON

Roger Hall is patron of the New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee. "I think it is great that New Zealand now has a national spelling bee, especially at a time when spelling, and accurate use of language are often considered unimportant. I do hope, though, that those children who take part aren't put through the sorts of pressure from parents as shown in the fascinating movie Spellbound. (Who knows, one day we might even have a national "correct use of the apostrophe" competition...) " Roger Hall

 

The purpose of the New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts, and develop correct English usage that will help them right through their lives.

 

BACKGROUND

The Spelling Bee started in 2005. Charlotte Roose, (pictured here with the former Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright) then a 12 year- old from Hillcrest High in Hamilton, was New Zealand's first spelling champion when she won the competition in 2005 with the word, contiguous.  Nicole Kennington, a 13 year old, from Hutt Valley High School in Wellington, was the second New Zealand spelling champion with the word obstreperous in 2006. Kate Weir from Linwood College, Christchurch was the third New Zealand spelling champion with the word vendetta. Thomas North, 13, from Hamilton Boys' High School was the fourth New Zealand Spelling Champion with the word flotilla. Hamilton Boys' High School student Christopher Jury is the 2009 New Zealand Vegemite Spelling Bee Champion. He won the title by correctly spelling the word, iterative. Christopher represented New Zealand at the 2009 Scripps Spelling Bee in Washington DC on 27-28 May, 2009. To prepare for the US final, the New Zealand spelling champion has to come to grips with the differences between New Zealand English and American English. Their reference is the Webster's Third New International Dictionary, a five kilogram monster containing over 450,000 words they win at the New Zealand Spelling Bee final. return to top

VIDEO OF THE NEW ZEALAND SPELLING BEE

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AUCKLAND THEATRE'S PRODUCTION OF THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE

"Can you spell i-r-r-e-s-i-s-t-i-b-l-e? A riotously funny and entirely adorable new musical" was how the New York Times described the Tony Award winning show, The 25th Putnam County Spelling Bee and in November 2008 it came to the Auckland Theatre Company.

Thomas North, the 2008 New Zealand Spelling Bee Champion, pictured above with the singing performing dynamo, Jacqui Clarke, was lucky enough to meet the cast back stage and tread the boards on opening night. Thomas, who was accompanied by his family, said it was an amazing night and a great way to finish off a truly memorable year.

Below is one of the reviews…

At the outset there's a sense of irony that a full scale musical has been produced about an event as altogether trivial as a spelling bee.  Then as the characters take us through the iconically American contest, typically the battleground for pubescent geeks, the validity of the concept is made clear somehow through the expression of the distinct characters.  Lead diva Jackie Clarke chaperones the auspicious proceedings as Miss Rona Lisa Poretti, expert host and herself a past champion.  Eryn Wilson, as eccentric and long-suffering vice principal Doug Panch, holds the venerable responsibility of reading the words, and the definitions and sample sentences where requested.  The potential for gags and innuendo within the familiar spelling bee structure is heavily mined, and to good effect. The ten eager finalists comprise the winners from the local districts that make up the proud apple-pie county of Putnam, New York.  Four of them are in fact audience members selected from applications filled out in the theatre foyer before the show.  The remaining six rivals are genuine cast members and between them cover a handful of well known stereotypes and one or two you might not have thought of.  The unique individual styles of each contestant are brought to light as they take their respective turns.  Rotund superstitious hypochondriac Willam Barfée (Semu Filipo) relies on a magic foot.  Frustrated overachiever Marcy Park (Esther Stephens) practically does it in her sleep, with contempt to spare.  The extra-lively Leaf Coneybear (Kristian Lavercombe) is evidently possessed by a rather handy divine spiritual force of some kind.   Others take a more typical, studious approach.  Madeleine Sami's lisping militant liberal activist Logainne competes to fulfill the hopes of her two gay fathers, whilst the desperately determined Olive Ostrovsky, played by Christina Cusiel, competes in the hope her father might pay her any attention at all.  Boyscout Chip Tollentino (Cameron Douglas) has no-one in particular to impress, but still has to deal with the anxieties and other issues brought on by adolescence... Each time one of the players misspells their word, a song and dance is literally made to escort them off.  This includes the hapless audience participants, who on opening night came to the party with aplomb (particularly Mr Thomas North, allegedly a genuine NZ representative international spelling bee contestant with a teeshirt to prove it).  These farewell serenades are invariably lead by Jason Te Patu, who plays endearing Rastafarian Mitch Mahoney filling the role of 'comfort counselor' as part of his community service.   In a way I kind of wish each of the variably loveable characters could have won; and in a way they kind of do, through personal victories that range from small to vaguely profound.  Murray Lynch shows a deft ability to direct musical comedy, aided greatly by the enormously talented cast of youthful, energetic players.  The entire company appears to be having a great time, testament to the refreshingly bright script of Rachel Sheinkin and the uplifting compositions of William Finn.  Sheinkin's work is based on original concept innovator Rebecca Feldman, and at least a small amount has clearly been devised by the company to incorporate fresh, topical issues such as the unsuccessful McCain/ Palin campaign. Musical Director Grant Winterburn and choreographer Sacha Copland also have Finn to thank for the basis of their sterling work, and again they could not want for a finer troupe of performers to realise the dynamic arrangements and routines. John Parker's set is a typical school gymnasium.  The contestants are seated in the grandstand facing the theatre audience and we get a cheery view of bright blue sky in the overhanging windows, which effectively transform to visually punctuate various ensemble numbers and soliloquies.  Where Parker has really had fun is in the costume design.  Each of the nine main characters are somewhat perfectly represented in their exemplary garniture, from Logainne's militant badge-peppered beret to Willam's ultra-shiny black shoes.   I confess that after the show I played dictionary with my friends into the wee hours instead of getting on with this review.  When I finally got to it I spent the first half an hour on the title.  The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a welcome reminder that words are fun. 

Reviewed by Nik Smythe, 9 Nov 2008

THOMAS NORTH'S STORY OF HIS EXPERIENCE AS A SPELLING CHAMPION

My name is Thomas North. A few weeks ago, I came back from a trip to Washington DC and New York. I had been over there because a few weeks previously, I had won the NZ Vegemite Spelling Bee. Now I had a great opportunity - to go to the USA and compete at a higher level. In the weeks building up to the trip, I began to get a little nervous, but not so much. I knew that it was going to be fun.   So I practiced - probably not as much as I think I should have. On the 25 th of May, I got on a plane at Auckland Airport, and the first part of the journey began.

After a 21 hour travel time, we were pretty tired, so we went to the hotel and slept until midday. On the Tuesday everybody piled into a veritable fleet of buses and went to a place called Turkey Run, where there was a huge barbecue, sports, karaoke (not for me, thanks!) and other cool stuff.

That evening, I had to take a test on the computer, and there were some really hard words in there. Things like triskaidekaphobia, eleemosynary and otorhinolaryngology. On Wednesday we got a guided tour of Annapolis, a nearby historic city, on the Chesapeake Bay. The weather was scorching hot, but the US Naval Academy (the main part of the tour) was really good, and I reckon I found the best ice-cream shop in the United States.

The following day, Thursday, was when each of us had to stand up on stage and spell just one word. This was about the point that I began to get nervous, I think. I can't really remember. Anyway, I stood up on stage to receive my word. I had been listening to the other words and I was pretty confident. But, I suppose I jinxed myself. When I stepped up to the microphone, I kind of blanked out. The word, meniscus, was one I had never heard of. So naturally, I had no clue how to spell it. The Latin origin didn't help, nor did the meaning (the curved bit on top of a full glass of water).   I sort of stumbled through it, swapping the e for an o. Oh well, spelling bee over for one Thomas North. I was really disappointed, but I stayed around for the rest of the week to watch Sameer Mishra from Indiana win.

Next stop, New York! The Big Apple is a completely different experience to DC. The buildings are higher, it's a lot noisier, and the subway system is nothing short of chaotic. New York is a great city - we did the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and a lot of other cool stuff.

Now we're back, and life is back to normal. However, I will never forget this trip. If you'd like to have the opportunity to do this, you can enter when you are in Year 9 at school. Heaps of schools all across the country participate, and it's a great thing to be a part of. Give it a go!