Spelling Bee

The Greater Grand Rapids Spelling Bee is a Regional bee affiliated with the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The winner wins a trip to compete in the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee near Washington, D.C.

Spelling bees help students improve their spelling, expand their vocabularies, learn language concepts, and develop correct English usage, plus composure under the spotlight, which will help them all of their lives.

2025 Greater Grand Rapids Spelling Bee

15 regional qualifiers from six counties (Allegan, Barry, Kent, Muskegon, Newaygo and Ottawa) competed on March 19 at the Kent ISD Conference Center for the right to go to Washington, D.C. for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The winner was Elliott Covelle, an 8th grader from Forest Hills Northern Middle School. Her classmate, Vonn Oosterhouse, a 7th grader at Forest Hills Northern Middle School came in 2nd place. Karsen Wagenmaker, a 7th grader from Fremont Middle School came in 3rd place.

The other contestants were:

• Emmett Katje, 5th grade, Pine Street Elementary
• Daniel Pruess, 7th grade, Delton Kellogg Middle School
• Balamitra Narendran, 5th grade, Explorer Elementary School
• Blake Dowling, 8th grade, NorthPointe Christian Middle School
• Cole Pearson, 5th grade, Wealthy Elementary
• Lakhshar Mitra, 8th grade, City High Middle School
• Landon Geissler, 4th grade, Grandville Christian
• Linneah Mitra, 4th grade, Cannonsburg Elementary
• Sakthi Sanjana Santhosh, 7th grade, Grandville Middle School
• Beau Fair, 6th grade, Muskegon Christian School
• Anne Barbutti, 8th grade, Cityside Middle School
• Patrick Burch, 8th grade, Black River Public School

Spelling Bee Coordinator Maddy Gimby, Elliott Covelle and Pronouncer Mark Raffler.

Information and Resources

Scripps National Spelling Bee