The DeSoto Independent School District will host a districtwide spelling bee on Feb. 1, 2024, at DeSoto High School located at 600 Eagle Drive in DeSoto.
Scholars are preparing with peers, teachers and tutors at their respective campuses across the district in order to prepare for campus-level spelling competitions which will take place between January 12 and 26 2024. Winners will advance from the campus-level competition to the Feb. 1 district spelling bee.
Students were issued a word list of more than 450 words to use in practicing for the event which is open to first through eighth grade scholars. The district spelling bee is preceded by classroom competitions that will give way to campus level competitions who will have the opportunity to study and reference “Words of the Champion,” a 4,000-word list for study and reference to prepare for the district-level round.
This year’s event will be the district’s first spelling bee competition since 2021. which was won by Julius Hemphill, a then sixth-grade student at Katherine Johnson Technology Magnet Academy who advanced to compete at the county level.
Prior to Henphill’s 2021 victory, then Curtistene S. McCowan Middle School sixth grader Kaleb Torres competed his way to the final spot in the 2019 district spelling bee competition.
After nine rounds of competition, Torres nailed the spelling of the word “cursive” to seal the win and claim the victory.
Torres overcame ten other finalists from DeSoto ISD elementary and middle schools in grades four through eight to compete in the county-level spelling bee. Cockrell Hill Elementary fourth-grader Amira Meeks, served as the DeSoto ISD alternate for the county bee and finished as the second runner-up in the district-level competition.
The district spelling bee is the first in a series of rounds en route to the national Scripps Spelling Bee which began hosting competitions in 1925. The events promote etymology, the study of words, and literacy and build healthy competition and camaraderie among scholars.
Those interested in sponsoring the 2024 DeSoto ISD Spelling Bee, may contact DeSoto ISD Partnerships, Donations, Volunteerism and Community Engagement Coordinator Rena Thomas at [email protected]. or 972.223.6666.