Central Elementary to host Spell Bowl competition Thursday

Central Elementary School will host 20 teams from 18 schools as part of the 22nd annual Elementary Spell Bowl competition on Thursday, Nov. 20.

The students at central will be among the approximately 4,500 students in grades 4, 5 and 6 taking part at more than 30 sites around the state. More than 400 teams of eight students each will compete.

Among those competing at Central will be six local teams from Central, Fillmore, Roachdale, Tzouanakis and two from Bainbridge.

The competition will begin at 5 p.m. at Central Elementary, 1888 E. U.S. 40, Greencastle, just southeast of South Putnam High School.

The Indiana Academic Spell Bowl is a team concept with no individual winners. Each round consists of one team member writing the correct spelling of seven words while competing against one team member from each other school.

Students are seated on the gym floor or auditorium stage. Each word is graded immediately and an individual scoring chart maintains a running team score as the evening progresses.

While students are waiting to compete, they sit in a cheer block to cheer for their teammates.

The team members of the schools with highest scores in each of the four enrollment classifications at each site will be recognized with awards after the competition. In addition, the top 10 teams in each enrollment classification statewide will receive either a plaque or certificate to place in their school.

The competition is administered by the Indiana Association of School Principals, Department of Student Programs and sponsored by Purdue University. The competition is similar to the Spell Bowl competition held in the senior high schools and junior high/middle schools.

Results will be posted at noon on Friday, Nov. 21 at www.iasp.org. Hover over the Student Programs tab, then Academic Competitions, then click on Academic Spell Bowl.