Eligibility Requirements
(1) The speller must not have won a Scripps National Spelling Bee championship in the Washington, D.C area.
(2) The speller must attend a school that officially enrolled with the SNSB between August 22, 2016, and December 12, 2016.
(3) The speller must not have passed beyond the eighth grade on or before February 1, 2017.
(4) The speller must not have repeated any grade for the purpose of extending spelling bee eligibility. If the speller has repeated any grade, the speller must notify the SNSB of the circumstances of grade repetition by March 31, 2017; and the Scripps National Spelling Bee will, in its sole discretion, determine the speller’s eligibility status on or before April 30, 2017.
(5) The speller—or the speller’s parent, legal guardian, or school official acting on the speller’s behalf—must not have declared to another entity an academic classification higher than eighth grade for any purpose, including high school graduation equivalency or proficiency examinations and/or examinations such as the PSAT, SAT, or ACT.
(6) The speller must not have earned the legal equivalent of a high school diploma.
(7) The speller must not have completed nor ever been enrolled in more than six high school–level courses or two college-level courses on or before April 30, 2017.
(8) The speller must not bypass or circumvent normal school activity to study for spelling bees. The SNSB defines normal school activity as adherence to at least four courses of study other than language arts, spelling, Latin, Greek, vocabulary, and etymology for at least four hours per weekday for 34 of the 38 weeks between August 28, 2016, and May 14, 2017.
(9) The speller must not have reached his/her 15th birthday on or before August 31, 2016.
(10) The speller must have been declared a champion of a final local spelling bee on or after February 1, 2017.
(11) The speller must not have been disqualified at any level of a sponsor’s spelling bee program between July 2016 and April 2017. Further, if the speller becomes disqualified at any level of a sponsor’s spelling bee program before April 2017, the speller will be disqualified from competing in the 2017 Spelling Bee and may not seek advancement in the Bee program through another sponsor and/or enrollment in another school.
The speller, upon qualifying for the 2017 Spelling Bee in the Washington, D.C. area must submit a completed Champion Bio Profile, a signed Certification of Eligibility Form, a signed Appearance Consent and Release Form, and a hard copy photo. The speller will notify SNSB, at least 24 hours prior to the first day of competition in the 2017 Spelling Bee, if any of the statements made on the Certification of Eligibility Form are no longer true or require updating. The speller’s sponsor will provide access to the necessary forms. SNSB may disqualify prior to or during competition any speller who is not in compliance with any of the above Eligibility Requirements; and it may—at any time between the conclusion of the 2017 Spelling Bee and April 30, 2018—require any speller who is found to have not been in compliance with any of the Eligibility Requirements to forfeit any prizes, rank, and other benefits accorded to the speller as a result of participation in the Spelling Bee.
