The after-school Spelling Club got underway on November 12 with 17 elementary students turning out to practice and improve their spelling skills in preparation for classroom spelling bees in January. The winners of the classroom bees will then advance to the ACS 1st-8th Grade Spelling Bee on January 27, and the winner of that Bee will compete against winners from other area public and private schools in the Scripps Regional Bee.

“The students are excited and ready to work hard to earn that special title of Spelling Bee Champion,” said Spelling Club Advisor Jessica Martin, who also oversees the school’s Spelling Bee in February. Martin said the students are reviewing and practicing spelling words from lists provided by the Scripps National Spelling Bee.  To practice, they play games like Boggle and Lexicon, and are learning to differentiate between homophones.

The club meets on Thursday afternoons for five weeks this fall and then will meet for a second round in the winter to give the winners of the class spelling bees an opportunity to prepare for the ACS 1st-8th Grade Spelling Bee.

Martin said the dates and format for the 2021 regional and national Scripps Spelling Bees have not yet been determined. Due to the coronavirus outbreak last spring, the 2020 regional and national bees were cancelled.