Loyola University Spelling Bee

By Maureen O'Donoghue, Anna Idler, Judy Lite

On Wednesday April 7th at the Fitness and Aquatic Center, Loyola University held its second annual Spelling Bee. The event began at 7 p.m. in the FAC indoor soccer court and was sponsored by the Student Government Association and Recreational Sports. Rich Sigler of Tech Services was the announcer and grad student George Giblin played the piano in the background.

Thirty teams of two contestants participated in the Spelling Bee. The competition lasted for three rounds and each team was given eight words per round. Contestants were given the word and the definition, wrote down their answer on an index card, and FAC employees collected the card. The correct spelling of the word was then displayed on two screens in the front of the room. The correct spelling for a word in the first round was worth 100 points, 250 points in the second round, and 375 points in the third round.

Assistant Director of Recreational Sports Erika Newman thought the event was a huge success. “We gave away lots of great prizes and everyone seemed to enjoy it,” said Newman. “Some of the words were difficult, but we have some excellent spellers at Loyola.”

The Spelling Bee brought together many students of the Loyola community in a healthy C-O-M-P-E-T-I-T-I-O-N.

The following slideshow displays an account of Loyola University's second annual Spelling Bee. It includes interviews with the participants and actual audio footage from the event. Click to watch!