The Portland Tribune launched the Regional Spelling Bee in 2002 to give Portland-area students an opportunity to compete on a national level.

 

Each year, the Portland Tribune/COMCAST Regional Spelling Bee invites fourth through eighth grade students attending Multnomah, Washington, Yamhill and Clackamas county public, private, alternative and home school groups to compete in the regional spelling bee. Students advance to the regional bee after winning their individual school bees.

 

The winner of the Portland Tribune/COMCAST Regional Spelling Bee will advance with more than 250 students from around the country and the world compete in the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

To compete in the national bee, most students are sponsored by local newspapers.  Along with competing in the bee, the winning student will have the opportunity to tour Washington, D.C., and participate in organized social events with other spellers.

 

The Scripps National Spelling Bee was started by the Louisville-Courier-Journal in 1925 with nine sponsoring newspapers and nine contestants. It was first made famous by the movies “Spellbound” and “Akeelah and the Bee”. Now ESPN airs it live and Network TV airs the final rounds live, which has greatly increased community awareness of the event.

 

Meet Our 2017 Champion

Congratulations to our winner Anna-Livia Regan, 14, who incidentally was also contestant No. 1.

From Southwest Portland, she attends ACCESS Academy, an alternative accelerated program for gifted students. Her parents are both teachers, her mother at Lewis & Clark College and father at Portland State University. She will advance to the famous Scripps National Spelling Bee, all expenses paid, in Washington, D.C. The 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee will be held during “Bee Week," May 28 through June 3. Finals are broadcast on ESPN.