Entrants encouraged to participate in upcoming spelling bee

The Idaho Character Foundation announced Wednesday the Inland Northwest Spelling Bee will be held at 9 a.m. Feb. 8 in North Idaho College's Schuler Performing Arts Center.

Students from fourth through eighth grades will compete for a chance to advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., and the ultimate $50,000 prize. 

Previously known as the North Idaho Spelling Bee, the event has expanded this year to include northeast Washington.

“We are encouraging schools to sign up now,” Dan Pinkerton, co-founder of the Idaho Character Foundation which sponsors the event, said in the news release.

The Idaho Character Foundation will reimburse all first-time school entrants the $199 registration fee if they register before Dec. 31. Each school registered can send their top two spellers to the Inland Northwest event.

“This is a celebration of academic excellence and linguistic achievement,” said Mike Nelson, deputy superintendent of the Coeur d'Alene School District. Nelson will be coordinating the spelling bee for his fourth year.

The final winner of the Inland Northwest Spelling Bee will receive an all-expense-paid trip to the national event in late May.

Private and public schools can register for the Inland Northwest Spelling Bee at inwspellingbee.com. Homeschoolers can sign up at inhsa.org for the Inland Northwest Homeschool Spelling Bee on Jan. 11 with the top two Washington winners and the top two Idaho winners continuing onto the Inland Northwest Spelling Bee. The Inland Northwest Homeschool Spelling Bee will be held at the Idaho Wildlife Museum, a unique Coeur d’Alene venue where education, artistry and character-building converge.

Students must be from Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai or Shoshone counties in Idaho, or Ferry, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane and Stevens counties in Washington.

The goal, Pinkerton said, is to reach 75 regional schools registered with the National Spelling Bee. At that level, the Idaho Character Foundation will be authorized to send both the top Washington speller and the top Idaho speller to Washington, D.C.

“To do that we need more schools to participate,” Pinkerton said. 

At the current level, they can send just one student.

Pinkerton founded the Idaho Character Foundation with his wife, Kathryn.

"As a father whose three children — Rachel, Rebekah and Josiah — have all competed in the National Spelling Bee, I can confidently say the benefits are lifelong," he said.