$1,000 NATIONAL ADULT SPELLING BEE | LONG BEACH, CALIF.
Excellent speller?
I have always been a fan of competition. As a student I participated in lots of contests -- YMCA sports; art, drama, choral & instrumental competitions; geography & science projects; spelling bees and more. When I first moved to California a few years ago, I auditioned for singing/acting jobs and was fortunate to work in many movies, TV shows and several of Disney's special events around the country. My bulldog and I competed on a TV show, "You Lie Like a Dog" on Animal Planet where we won money for local animal charities. And, even today, I continue to participate in running, swimming and biking events.
Spelling is important to me. In my current profession as a publicist/event planner, I have to do a lot of writing and reviewing of press releases. Good spelling and grammar are mandatory. When I send and receive e-mail messages, I like to make a good impression by sending documents that have perfect spelling, grammar and punctuation. I don't like to rely on "Spell-Check."
I want students and adults to learn excellent spelling habits. Hence, the creation of this adult spelling bee. The contest is open to the best spellers in high school and older. Hope to see you at the Bee!
With kind regards,
Justin Rudd!
Bee Organizer
g TAX-DEDUCTIBLE
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CHECKS to Spelling Bee, Attn. Justin Rudd, 5209 E. The Toledo #1, Long Beach, CA 90803.
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THE MAIN PURPOSE of the Community Action Team (CAT) is to promote social well-being among the general public. As a 501c3 nonprofit corporation governed by a board of directors, contributions to CAT are tax deductible and are used to help produce quality events within our community that benefit children, animals, and the environment.
CAT IS AN UMBRELLA organization that includes: 4Halloween Kids Costume Contest
4July 4 Kids Bike Parade
4Poetry contest
4Sidewalk Chalk Art Contest
4Interfaith Blessing of the Animals
4$1,000 National Elementary School Spelling Bee
4Haute Dogs on the Beach events
4Haute Dog Easter Parade
4Haute Dog Howl'oween Parade
4Operation Santa Paws
45k/10k Turkey Trot
4Operation Easter Basket
4Easter Egg Decorating Contest
4monthly 30-Minute Beach Cleanups 4Beds, Bikes, Bears & Blankets giveaway to those in need 4Clothing giveaways to the underserved 4Bulldog Beauty Contest 4Long Beach Losers - 12-week weight-loss contest 42nd Street Walkers
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The 5th annual $1,000 National Adult Spelling Bee will be held Sun., April 25, 2010, 2 p.m., at Bay Shore Church, 5100 E. The Toledo, Long Beach, Calif.MAP
CONGRATULATIONS to the 2009 National Adult Spelling Bee winner: Michael Petrina (left) of Arlington, Virginia. He correctly spelled catachresis and cumshaw in rounds 18 and 19 to win the $1,000 prize. He is donating $500 of his prize money to the Alzheimer's Assoc. This fourth annual Bee had 45 registrants and was hosted and created by Justin Rudd (2nd from left) and his nonprofit 501c3 Community Action Team (CAT).
SECOND PLACE went to Kiri Wagstaff (top photo, 2nd from right) of Monrovia, Calif., after misspelling latkes in the 140-minute bee held at Bay Shore Chuch in Long Beach, Calif. Third place went to Jessica Ferraro (top photo, far right) of Santa Monica, Calif., and fourth place was Dan Wong (photo at left) of Monterey Park, Calif.
WORDS in the final rounds included: abomasum,
Havarti,
anthophilous,
spavin,
petiole,
droshky,
salmagundi,
colcannon,
coulomb,
abecedarian,
satori,
portmanteau,
deuteragonist,
danegeld,
triptych,
carnassial,
misprision,
banausic,
risorgimento,
louche,
arriviste,
lactiferous,
catachresis,
latkes, and cumshaw.
g R-E-G-I-S-T-R-A-N-T-S 2010 Spellers, so far 1. Anne Wright, Long Beach
2. Lucy Cordova
3.
Vicki Paris Goodman, Long Beach
4. Thao Nguyen, Cypress
5.
Bernetta Gresko, Long Beach
6. Ethan Bradley, Long Beach
7.
Ruth Cone, Pomona
8.
Amy Gerns, Topanga
g R-E-G-I-S-T-R-A-N-T-S 2009 Spellers & Misspelled Word 1. Mitch Powell, alopecia
2. Sharlene Wills, potpourri
3. David Deutsch, restaurateur
4. Jean Ballantine, tremolo
5. Vicki Paris Goodman, chrysalis
6. Bernetta Gresko, concomitant
7. Anne Wright, abomasum
8. Tulip Mitchell, liqueur
9. Mary Barton, mere
10. Nicole Campbell, cappuccino
11. Dea Smith, prepossessing
12. Adriean Mancillas, pancreas
13. Ruben Mancillas, milieu
14. Michael Petrina WINNER
15. Thu-Huong Nguyen, anthophilous
16. Elizabeth Schoeppner, panoply
17. Josephine Ha, criterion
18. Sandy Nang
19. Lisa Damico, inveigh
20. Nancy Reppert, novocaine
21. Ruth Cone, trichinosis
22. Sharon Kellogg, peevish
23. Victoria Meza
24. Thomas Beharrell, cipher
25. Jessica Ferraro, risorgimento
26. Bonny Chou,
27. Traci Swartz, mannequin
28. Cindy Benes, festoon
29. Dan Wong, carnassial
30. Janice Davis, droshky
31. Nancy Brown, apostrophe
32. Mark Scott, pirouette
33. Amy Vaughn, coliseum
34. Kiri Wagstaff, latkes
35. Carolyn Libuser, transient
36. Amy Gerns, mufti
37. Kris Kahrs, bouillon
38. Alluri Varma
39. Sara Rhodes, pasteurization
40. Andrea Gohlke, avoirdupois
41. Michelle Kim, deuteragonist
42. Joel Bryant, accede
43. Rachel Rosen
44. Lisa Peskay Malmsten, marionette
45. Christine Danella, jacquard
g A GROWN-UP BEE Adults Were Abuzz in Long Beach After Two-Hour 2008 National Bee
2008 Winner Janice Davis, Garden Grove, Calif.
Correctly spelled decoupage and isinglass. She won $1,000 after 37 rounds! She'll be donating $500 of that to her favorite charity, Set Free Christian Ministries in Orange, Calif. 2nd Place David Riddle, Pacific Grove, Calif. Misspelled axolotl. 3rd Place Michael Petrina, Arlington, VA.
Misspelled aikido. 4th Place Christy Ewing, Long Beach, Calif. Misspelled tilde. 5th Place Vicki Paris Goodman, Long Beach, Calif. Misspelled burgher.
SEE THE COMPLETE 293-WORD LIST IN THE RIGHT COLUMN OF THIS PAGE.
g ALL EYES ON YOU What's In a Word?
PLENTY, ESPECIALLY when it's the rigors of a traditional spelling bee and one of the participants has the opportunity to walk home with a grand title! Words like extraterrestrial, meringue, fiery and phylum must be spelled and spelled correctly under the watchful eyes and ears of judges.
IF THAT IS NOT CHALLENGING enough for an adult, it must be done while their peers and families, who are also nervously awaiting their opportunity to shine, look on.
The National Adult Spelling Bee is designed to help adults and students in high school and college improve their spelling, increase their vocabulary, and develop correct English usage. This contest is sure to have some nail-biting, breath-bating competitors.
g SOME ROUNDS MAY INCLUDE THESE WORDS A Few Practice Words
ADULTS ARE ELIMINATED from the competition after misspelling one word. The rules are fashioned after the National Spelling Bee -- a contest for students up to and including grade eight.
g NATIONAL ADULT SPELLING BEE Bee Rules
1. Any adult, at least 16 years old, who is a resident or student in the United States, may enter and participate.
3. The entry fee is $25 by April 26; $35 after April 26 and $45 (cash only) at the event. Nonrefundable. Nontransferable.
4. The difficulty for words in the competition will start at a middle school level.
5. The judges are in complete control of the competition, and their decision shall be final on all questions. All rules are subject to modification by the judges and/or the event organizer, Justin Rudd.
6. There is not an official study booklet for this competition. All words listed in the dictionary may be considered for this contest.
7. All participants are expected to be signed-in at the event location no later than 30 minutes prior to the announced starting time of the contest.
9. Participants will draw numbers to see who starts first (which presents an element of risk as elimination occurs in order). Or, organizers may pre-assign the numbers.
10. The role of the pronouncer is (1) to correctly pronounce the word and (2) to give a sentence, definition, and other information about the word at the speller's request.
11. The role of the judge(s) is to determine whether the contestant has spelled the word correctly.
12. The role of the speller is (1) to gather as much information as possible to help spell the word correctly and (2) to spell the word correctly.
13. In competition, after the pronouncer gives the speller a word, the speller is encouraged to pronounce the word before spelling it and after spelling it. The judges may not disqualify a speller for failing to pronounce the word either before or after spelling it.
14. The speller may ask the pronouncer to say the word again, define it, use it in a sentence, provide the part of speech, and/or provide the language of origin. The pronouncer shall grant all such requests until the judges agree that the word has been made reasonably clear to the speller. The pronouncer and judges will not entertain root word questions.
15. The judges may disqualify any speller who ignores a request to start spelling.
16. The judges may not disqualify a speller for asking a question.
17. Having started to spell a word, a speller may stop and start over, retracing the spelling from the beginning. In retracing, however, there can be no change of letters or their sequence from those first pronounced. If letters or their sequence is changed in the respelling, the speller will be eliminated.
18. The competition shall be conducted in rounds. Each speller remaining in the spelling bee at the start of a round shall spell one word in the round. Upon missing the spelling of a word, a speller immediately drops out of the competition. The next word on the pronouncer's list is given to the next speller.
19. Under no circumstance is any speller asked to correct the misspelling of another speller.
20. If none of the spellers remaining in the spelling bee at the start of a round spells a word correctly during that round, all shall remain in the competition with the spellers spelling in the original order.
21. All spellers eliminated in the same round will be tied for the same place.
22. During the final rounds of the competition, the judges may choose to allow participants the option of writing the word down on paper before being required to spell it orally.
23. If only one of the spellers remaining in the competition at the start of a round spells a word correctly during that round, a new round shall begin and the speller shall be given an opportunity to spell the next word on the list. If the speller succeeds in correctly spelling the new word, the speller shall be declared the champion. Otherwise (that is, if the speller does not succeed in correctly spelling the new word), all the spellers remaining in the competition at the start of the previous round shall remain in the competition. A new round will begin, with these spellers spelling in the original order.
The champion is not the champion until he or she has spelled correctly two more words than the speller or spellers placing second have spelled. These two words will be spelled consecutively only if the champion is the last speller in a round.
It is possible in two instances to have a round in which only one word is spelled. The first instance of a one-word round is the correct spelling of the final championship word. The second instance of a one-word round is the misspelling of what could have been the final championship word.
24. Any question relating to the spelling of a word should be referred to the designated official immediately in writing on the official appeal form that will be provided at the competition. The official appeal form will contain space for the following: the word in question, the name of the speller, and the reason for the appeal.
25. The judges will not entertain appeals from individuals seeking to dislodge another speller from the competition. The deadline for filing an appeal is before the speller affected would have received his/her next word had he/she stayed in the competition. No appeal will be entertained after that word has been given to another speller.
26. When only five or fewer spellers remain, an oral appeal must be made immediately, that is, before the speller affected would have received his/her next word had he/she stayed in the contest.
27. If a word has one or more homonyms, the pronouncer will indicate which word is to be spelled. If the listed word is not properly identified, either by defining it or distinguishing the homonyms, any correct spelling of any homonym of the word will be accepted.
28. The speller shall not be disqualified for failing to note that a word is capitalized (noted as "cap," "usu cap," "often cap," or "sometimes cap."
29. The dictionary provided by the judges shall serve as the final authority for the spelling of words. If more than one spelling is listed for a word, any of these spellings will be accepted as correct if the word either matches the pronunciation and definition provided by the pronouncer or if it is clearly identified as being a standard variant of the word that the speller has been asked to spell. Spellings at other locations having archaic, obsolete, or regional labels (such as North, Midland, Irish) that are different from those at the main entry will not be accepted as correct.
WHAT ELSE DOES C.A.T. DO?
Details about the Community Action Team C.A.T. and their more than 38 annual Long Beach events and projects are at www.JustinRudd.com.