HEF Annual Spelling Bee

2024 HEF Spelling Bee Winners

Third Grade Winners: Spelling Sorcerers

Winning word: believable
Graham DeSchamp, Amelia Kane, Gwen Cronin with Moderator: Acting Superintendent Kathryn Roberts

4th Grade: Beekeepers

Winning word: volcano
Jack Rogers, Matthew Slankas, Oliver Shroff with Moderator: South Elementary Principal Tara Boening

5th Grade: Nectar Navigator

Winning word: elsewhere
Victoria Nguyen, Mia Krakowiak, Violet Phan with Moderator Selectman William Ramsey

2024 HEF Spelling Bee

The Spelling Bee is Annual Hingham Education Foundation event held in the fall. The Spelling Bee is a great community event that engages 3rd, 4th and 5th grade elementary students in academic excellence and fun. Teams compete in “hives” of 3 students.

This event sells out every year, so mark your calendar to register your hive and join in on the fun!! If you have any questions, please contact spellingbee@hinghameducation.org.

Registration Guidelines

The HEF Spelling Bee is open to 3rd, 4th and 5th graders, provided they are Hingham residents and attend a Hingham public elementary school
A Spelling Bee Hive consists of 3 students
Registration closes once 30 hives have registered for each grade
One parent captain will register the entire hive online with:
- A hive (team) name – the Hive name can not be changed
- Each student’s name
- Parent/Guardians’ email
- School the students attend
Each hive costs $105 to register ($35 per student). The parent captain will pay the entire hive fee of $105 to secure a spot in the bee.
While not required, we encourage each Hive to have fun and get creative with themed costumes
Teams must be comprised of three eligible spellers in the same grade, regardless of Hingham Public school

Event Details and Rules

The Hingham Education Foundation Spelling Bee will take place annually in early fall.
Please review the HEF Spelling Bee Event Rules

Bee Practice Tips

Team Practice
THE BEST thing students can do to prepare for the HEF Spelling Bee is to get together with their team to run through the process of the Bee. All 3 should sit together at a table with a white board and dry erase marker, scratch paper and pencil. An adult can play the moderator and give them a word (you can use spelling words from school for this purpose). The adult should pronounce the word, define it, say it in a sentence, and pronounce it one more time. Team members have 30 seconds to collaborate on the word, write it on the board, and hold it up for the judges to see.

Practice Listening
It is VERY IMPORTANT for students to practice listening. Many errors at the Bee are because the team did not hear the “right word” – they NEED to listen to the definition and sentence as well as the word pronunciation because there are homophones (e.g., pitcher and picture, bazaar and bizarre) and other easily confused words (e.g., desert and dessert).

Choose a Team Writer
Each team will need to designate one writer as it helps eliminate confusion. The writer should be the team member with the largest, most legible handwriting who can write neatly and quickly under the pressure of a time constraint. By having each team member practice as writer you will be able to find the best person for the job.

You Do Not Need To Study
Students do NOT need to study specific word lists… or study at all, but we know that many want to so we have provided some resources below that may be of help. There is no “official practice list” for the HEF Spelling Bee.