On Saturday, March 9, 2019, the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society will co-present The Connecticut Spelling Bee with the Hartford Courant. The Connecticut Spelling Bee will take place at the University of Saint Joseph, in Webster’s hometown of West Hartford, Connecticut. The top student spellers from across the state will participate.
The Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society and the Hartford Courant collaborated for the first time in 2017 to offer The Connecticut Spelling Bee. This state-wide spelling competition is the last step on the path to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Participating students in grades 4 through 8 will have already won their school- or town-wide spelling bees. The overall winner of the state competition will represent Connecticut on the national stage in Harbor Park, Maryland.
Hosting The Connecticut Spelling Bee is a natural fit for the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society and the Hartford Courant. Both believe in the principles of the Scripps National Spelling Bee: to celebrate words and inspire new generations of readers. Through their study of words, spelling bee students become familiar with both etymology and current language trends.
Webster’s Dictionary serves as the final authority for the Scripps National Spelling Bee and its affiliates. Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language is the original source for today’s Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Even in his own lifetime, Noah Webster recognized the changing nature of language. Carrying on Webster’s mission to always reflect the language of the American people, today Merriam-Webster continues to add new words to the dictionary annually.
Owned by tronc (formerly Tribune Publishing), the Hartford Courant is the nation’s oldest continuously published newspaper. Additional Courant print and digital properties include courant.com, CTNOW, ctnow.com, ValuMail, Hartford Magazine and hartfordmagazine.com. tronc’s leading daily newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, Sun Sentinel (South Florida), Orlando Sentinel, Hartford Courant, The Morning Call and Daily Press.
The Connecticut Spelling Bee kicks off at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the University of Saint Joseph’s Hoffman Auditorium, 1678 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford. Space is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. This event is free to the public. Breakfast foods will be available for purchase.
If your school is interested in participating in The Connecticut Spelling Bee, you must register with the Scripps program and hold your school/town-wide spelling bee by February 22, 2019. Visit The Connecticut Spelling Bee page or contact Beth Sweeney, Director of Education, at (860) 521-5362 x 12 for more information.
The museum would like to thank the Hartford Courant and the University of Saint Joseph for support of The Connecticut Spelling Bee. Additional thanks to the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and the Greater Hartford Arts Council.
