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When an event has been around for almost 40 years, it becomes an important part of the community.
Case in point: The Jefferson-Harrison County Spelling Bee, Presented by the Herald-Star.
With one exception -- the COVID year of 2020 -- it's been an integral piece of late winter or early spring since 1985.
There will be a lot at stake when the regional bee is held at 11 a.m. March 9 at Buckeye North Elementary School in Brilliant. The winner from that bee will represent our area in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which will be held as part of Bee Week that runs from May 26 through May 31 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in the Washington, D.C., suburb of National Harbor, Md.
Pupils in our region already have started on the road to that competition. They have been preparing since school opened in the late summer and have been participating in room and building bees.
The next step in that process will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, when the Indian Creek Local School District Bee is held at Indian Creek Middle School in Mingo Junction. Two district bees are scheduled for Wednesday, at 6:30 p.m., when the Edison Local School District Bee is held in the Edison High School auditorium, and at 7 p.m., when the Buckeye Local School District Bee is held in the theater at Buckeye Local High School.
On Jan. 18, the Harrison Hills City School District Bee will be held at 6 p.m. in the auditorium at Harrison Central High School, with the Steubenville City School District's Bee set for 6 p.m. Jan. 23 and the Toronto City School District's Bee set for 5:30 p.m. Jan. 24.
While the essence of the competition has not changed since that first regional bee was won by Jimmy Yoo, who represented Steubenville City Schools, the format has gone through several modifications.
For example, for the first couple of years of our local bee, the winner did not automatically qualify for the national bee. He or she advanced to a bigger regional bee in Canton, with the winner there earning the spot in the national bee.
Another change has been made this year that will affect the district bees. This year, only the top five finishers and one alternate from each of the district bees will advance to the March 9 competition. That represents a significant change in the format that had been in place for the past several years, where the top eight finishers and two alternates advanced.
Officials with the Jefferson County Educational Service Center, who serve as administrators for the bee, made the tough decision to reduce the field for the regional bee based on several factors, including the rising costs associated with continuing to offer the program.
According to Scripps, which has conducted the national bee for almost 100 years, the Herald-Star is among the more than 175 newspapers, sports teams, organizations and universities who make up the bee's regional partners and who ensure the program's continuing success. Coupled with the professional educators at the JCESC, led by Ron Sismondo, the director of curriculum and professional development, and the local businesses and individuals who have stepped up to serve as sponsors, the bee continues to be a quality academic competition that gives pupils around the region a chance to shine and develop skills they can use the rest of their lives.
More than 11 million pupils across the country compete in the program each year. It's an annual competition that began in 1925, when nine newspapers joined to conduct a spelling bee, Scripps says.
We're proud to have been able to play a role in bringing that competition to our area for the past 39 years, and hope to be able to continue to be a part of it for many more years to come.
(Gallabrese, a resident of Steubenville, is executive editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times.)