Insider’s Guide to the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee – The National Zoo and Opening Ceremony

The Opening Ceremony was fabulous!

The caricature artists were very popular! .

Ms. Paige Kimble is the executive director of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Dev and Rani Jaiswal are possibly two of the nicest former spellebrities you’ll ever meet!

Many spellers and their families sported their bee themed shirts today!

My sister loved the bubble-making area.

I first met Gracie from Kansas in 2013 and it’s so nice to see her again this year!

Spellers and their families enjoyed a fabulous barbecue at the National Zoo today. There were a variety of activities for everyone to enjoy, such as hula-hooping and dancing. Caricature artists and face-painters were on hand this year as well! Of course, we could also roam around the beautiful zoo at our leisure and enjoy all of the wonderful animals. This was a great opportunity to socialize with the other spellers and collect more autographs in my Bee Keeper.

This evening all the spellers attended a grand Opening Ceremony. We were introduced to Scripps Spelling Bee staff, volunteers, and Bee officials including the pronouncer, Dr. Jacques Bailly, and the head judge, Mrs. Mary Brooks. Tomorrow is the first official day of competition; it begins in the morning with the preliminary written exam (Round 1). On Wednesday, Round 2 and Round 3 will take place on stage and will be live streamed on ESPN3. If you are interested in watching Rounds 2 and 3, please go to spellingbee.com for the broadcasting schedule.

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Insider’s Guide to the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee – The Journey Begins

Spellers and their family members could decorate their name badges with colorful ribbons.

Spellers signed the poster, forever commemorating the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Getting autographs in my Bee Keeper is my favorite bee tradition.

Kindle Corner (for spellers only) includes a cereal bar, poster making station, and comfy beanbags to read our favorite books.

There are two people named “Tara” at the bee this year!

Akash is the youngest speller this year; he’s six years old!

Orientation was the perfect place to start filling my Bee Keeper with autographs!

All spellers completed the six steps outlined in this poster.

This morning, my family and I departed from Louisville, Kentucky and arrived in Washington D.C.

The main event today was a Spellebrity Welcome and speller orientation. This was my first opportunity to meet the other amazing spellers and it was so exciting! My favorite part was when I received my Bee Keeper, a picture book with interesting facts about each of the spellers. I am determined to get every speller’s autograph in my Bee Keeper this year!

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Insider’s Guide to the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee – The Journey Begins

One of my favorite spellers is Vanya Shivashankar.

Dev last competed in 2012 as a 5th grader and has returned as an 8th grader this year!

The Bee Keeper is one of my favorite bee traditions.

All the spellers received t-shirts at orientation along with a bag full of bee souvenirs.

Paige Kimble is the executive director of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Spellers collecting autographs in their Bee Keepers during orientation.

Early this morning, I left Louisville to begin my journey to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The main event today was a speller orientation at which we learned about the schedule of events and activities planned for the week. This was also my first opportunity to meet the other spellers and it was so exciting! I saw some familiar faces and met lots of new people. Being here among these amazing spellers reminded me of why I have studied so hard to qualify for the Bee again.

The most important thing that happened during orientation was that all of the spellers received their Bee Keepers! One of the great traditions of bee week is the Bee Keeper which is a picture book with fun facts about each speller. Collecting autographs of spellers in my book is my most favorite thing to do during the week!