Non-essential events on the UAB campus have been canceled due to public health concerns related to the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). For the latest updates on UAB’s response to COVID-19 and health information, visit www.uab.edu/coronavirus.
The 2020 Alabama State Spelling Bee will take place Saturday, March 21, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Alabama Kiwanis Foundation is the official sponsor of the Alabama State Spelling Bee.
The event will be held in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences’ new University Hall auditorium. Students will register from 10-11 a.m. The Bee will begin at noon. The pronouncer will be Janet Keys, and judges will be Sandra Harrell, Stephen Epley and Douglas Ragland.
Approximately 55 students in fourth through eighth grades from counties across the state will participate, and their families will also attend. More than 780 schools have participated in bees, culminating with the 55 student winners who will vie for the 2020 Alabama Spelling Bee Champion. The winner of the Alabama Spelling Bee will represent the state at Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., in May, which will be broadcast on ESPN.
Nine newspapers collaborated to start the National Spelling Bee in 1925. In 1941, Scripps took over sponsorship of the National Spelling Bee. There was no Scripps National Spelling Bee during the war years of 1943-45. Of the 93 champions, 48 have been girls and 45 have been boys, according to the Bee’s History page on its website.
In 2019, eight co-winners of the National Spelling Bee were declared, including Alabama student Erin Howard, 14, as well as Rishik Gandhasri, 13; Saketh Sundar, 13; Shruthika Padhy, 13; Sohum Sukhatankar, 13; Abhijay Kodali, 12; Christopher Serrao, 13; and Rohan Raja, 13. The competitors each received $50,000 in cash, a Scripps trophy, reference books, and trips to New York and Hollywood to appear on talk shows, according to USA Today. Scripps named two winners as recently as 2016, but the competition had not recognized more than a two-way tie since it began in 1925.
Alabama has had only one other Scripps National Spelling Bee champion, Julie Junkin, in 1974.