2023 Spelling Bee

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Our co-op (Blount Home Education Association or BHEA) had the annual Spelling Bee today. It was a wonderful learning experience for all. I took it upon myself to coordinate the BHEA Spelling Bee about three years ago because I love spelling bees.

The spellers and judges

The spellers and judges

Everything went smoothly and I was not as nervous as in prior years. Our three judges were Angela Montoya (main judge, who has done it for a decade now), Preston Zoder (pronouncer, 9th grade, runner up last year, my son), and Lydia Griffin (buzzer manager, daughter of the first homeschooler of Sevier County, who is now homeschooling her own children). Continue reading »


2022 Spelling Bee

Posted on

We finally had the BHEA Spelling Bee. BHEA stands for Blount Home Education Association. This was my second year coordinating the bee. The judges pick the words from the list we received from the National Spelling Bee Organization.

I have two children competing in the bee, but I do not know the words they will get from the judges. We prepare the entire list, 450 words. My job as a coordinator is to communicate with all the parents, give them the word list and the book list, and make sure we have a building, sponsors, goodie bags, prizes, judges, and that the Board stays informed.

The BHEA Board suggested we postpone it for a month, from January to February, so that the pandemic numbers could go down a bit more. We had quite a few people sick – judges, participants, parents. January just was not going to work out.

Spelling Bee Family

Our family before the bee

By the middle of February, everybody was healthy again. The COVID-19 numbers in our area have gone down so much, that the Board even decided to switch masks from being “required” to “recommended” for indoor activities. Continue reading »