The "The Scholars Of Tomorrow" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting in the rear of the Manheim Township Middle School auditorium watching 37 students from the Middle School and the nearby Landis Run Intermediate School participate in the annual Spelling Bee.  The Scripps National Spelling Bee is an annual spelling bee held in the United States and is run by the E.W. Scripps Company.  Our local Lancaster Newspaper is the sponsor of our Lancaster Spelling Bee with other sponsors throughout the United States as well as American Somao, Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Jamaica, Japan, South Korea and the Department of Defense Schools in Europe.  

A practice round with the 37 contestants in the annual
Spelling Bee at Manheim Township Middle School.

The purpose of the Bee is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabu- laries, learn concepts and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives.   Local sponsors enroll tens of thousands of schools in the program which is held during the fall or winter months with the National Spelling Bee held in Washington D.C. during the week following Memorial Day weekend.  

Sharon sits between two of the judges during the practice
round.  Another judge will replace her for the competition.

The Bee tonight is run by Middle School teacher Sharon Raup whom I contacted and asked if I can visit and take a photo for the yearbooks of both school participating.  I have been including the Spelling Bee photo since I took over the production of the yearbook in 1999.  The students arrived about an hour ago, were fed pizza in the cafeteria and ushered to the stage of the auditorium where they were given a huge placard with their number on it and given a seat according to that placard.  

Contestants listen intently to instructions before they begin. 

Then I stepped in for the group photo.  Since students at this age are all different sizes, I rearranged them so the tallest were in the rear so I wouldn't lose any faces.  After the photo they began a practice round so they could get the jitters out of their system and they could see what would happen during the competition.  

The moderator/pronouncer, a teacher at
the school, addresses the students.

A few minutes ago, at 6:00 PM the competition began.  The moderator/pronouncer began with placard #1 and pronounced the word for each person.  They could ask for the word again, a definition of the word or the origin of the word.  They then began to spell the word.  If they stopped and wanted to begin over again, they had to announce that they were starting over.  If they spelled the word incorrectly one of the three judges would ring a bell and they had to take a seat in the front rows of the auditorium.  A few spellers used their finger to write the word on the placard or on the palm of their hand before spelling it for the judges.  

Students who have missed a word fill the front row.

The first round ended with just about half sitting in the front row.  As for me, I eventually wandered around, taking photos for Sharon.  The top few spellers told they would compete in the county-wide contest which will be held in the near future.  I thought I would share with you a few of the photos I took this year of the Manheim Township School District Spelling Bee, since these are the scholars of tomorrow.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

This young man came dressed with a bow tie for the competition.

A contestant spelling her word.

Footwear of all styles can be seen during the event. 

Another young girl displaying her # placard.

The three judges listen for the correct spelling of the word.

This young man is using his index finger to spell his word on the rear of his placard before spelling for the judges.