Spelling Bee

On January 29, I will be helping my sister in law with a local spelling bee. Jill is the organizer. She asked me to help with judging last year but I had to pass. I was very disappointed in that. I had a bad cold/bronchitis thing and my voice and coughing would have been too much of a distraction to the children so I had to decline.

This year I asked if I could help and she asked me to be the pronouncer. I'm thrilled to be part of this and just a bit nervous. This bee is so important to the children I don't want to mess up and ruin it for them. I should recieve the word book in the mail soon and then I can tell Jill if there are any words I am uncomfortable with. It's not about me, it's about the kids, so even though it may be embarassing to admit I don't know certain words, I will tell Jill so that I don't risk a mistake with the children.

Mostly though I am very excited to be part of this. Amy, Jill's daughter and my niece (duh) made it to the national spelling bee two years ago! We were so proud to follow her progress. She wrote a book about the experience. I loved the book! I think I am going to re-read it in the next week to help set the tone for this. Amy did such a wonderful job of capturing the spirit of the bee and the emotions of the children in it. This is a local bee not the national stage but it is no less important to the kids who will be in it.

I'll let you know how it goes.