Annual Cass County spelling bee open to public

Published 11:56 am Wednesday, February 11, 2009

By Staff
CASSOPOLIS – Lewis Cass Intermediate School District is sponsoring the 26th annual Cass County Spelling Bee for Dowagiac, Cassopolis, Edwardsburg and Marcellus students in grades four through eight on Tuesday, Feb. 24.
The event will be conducted on the Southwestern Michigan College campus from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. This year's event will take place in the Dale A. Lyons Building and Mathews Conference Center in Dowagiac. In the event of a "snow day," the bee will be held on Feb. 26.
The format consists of both team and individual spelling competitions.
In the morning, all 120 students compete on five-person, grade-level teams against the same grade level from the other school districts.
A point system is in place for team spelling so that misspelled words do not eliminate students from the activity.
First- through fourth-place ribbons are awarded to all teams after 10 rounds of spelling.
In the afternoon, students who spelled perfectly or only missed one word in the morning competition advance to the individual spelling contest. If students misspell a word during the individual contest, they are eliminated from the bee.
The top three spellers who remain at the end of the competition all receive prizes for their success.
The top two spellers receive $50 savings bonds. The top speller, the Cass County spelling bee champion, also receives a special trophy.
The two top fourth grade individual winners receive word games.
Cass County Historical Commission donates prizes and monetary awards for this event.
Brian Wood, Lewis Cass ISD instructional services director, again coordinates the event.
The Teachers Steering Committee includes: Karen Holbury, Cassopolis; Justus Gage Elementary School Principal Mary Hendress, Dowagiac; Penny Deats, Edwardsburg; Sandy VanHoe, Marcellus; and Sue Stoddard, retired Marcellus teacher.
Pronouncers for 2009 include retired Dowagiac principal Dan Smith, retired Dowagiac teacher Steve Morrison and retired Dowagiac principal Lin Mallory.
Scorekeepers and judges include Dowagiac Middle School Principal Mike Frazier, former Dowagiac school board member Linda Lorenz, Cassopolis Board of Education President Christine Locke, Cassopolis Curriculum Director Sue Hague, Johanna Timpson of Marcellus and LCISD Superintendent John Ostrowski.
The public is invited to attend the competition.