The Iowa finals for Scripps National Spelling Bee is coming back to Iowa State for a second year.

Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication is hosting the event in the Pioneer Room of the Memorial Union at 9 a.m. on March 2. It is free and open to the public.

“The Greenlee School has high standards when it comes to correct spelling and usage of the language,” said Michael Bugeja, professor and director of the Greenlee School. “We also are a Scripps partner school. We especially appreciate the work of Erin Wilgenbusch and the Public Relations Student Society of America in helping plan this event.”

The spelling bee is held for kids up to 8th grade. A total of 14 individual school champions will go head-to-head in order to move on to the national round. The national finals will be held May 28-30.

“At the statewide finals, the winner gets their trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. completely paid for; the Greenlee School will pay for their hotel, their airfare, admission into the bee and the certification. This includes the whole family as well,” said Erin Wilgenbusch, senior lecturer and PRSSA faculty advisor of the Greenlee School. “It is for Bee Week, which is a four day or five day thing, so it’s not just fly in, spell, and go home the next day.” 

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is non-profit. It is the longest-running academic promotional event in the United States.

“There are a number of reasons. First is character development, participating in activities,” Wilgenbusch said. “Challenging yourself to do your very best at something. I think spelling bee in particular is important because it helps them develop an appreciation of the English language.” 

It may be hard for some to see the need for such pressure to spell correctly with technology to keep track of spelling so easily now.

“We have things in our language called homonyms that sound alike but are spelled differently: their, there, they’re; to, too, two; way and weigh,” Wilgenbusch said. “So it’s not just about the spelling; the kids and all of us need to understand that those are very different words. It’s about the language development and understanding the impact that words have.” 

Merriam-Webster, a sponser for the spelling bee, will provide a dictionary and a one-year subscription to Britannica, an online encylopedia.

“They also receive the Jay Sugarman award, which gives them a proof set of United States mint coins,” Wilgenbusch said. “ESPN televises the national spelling bee, which is cool, as it raises its profile.” 

The Greenlee School is glad to see the Scripps Bee come back for a second year.

“When we can bring people here in a really fun and exciting environment like the spelling bee, its just a win-win for everybody, so I think Saturday is going to be a great day,” Wilgenbusch said.