How do you capture the love of reading onto a video that’s shorter than 5 minutes?
The Scripps National Spelling Bee, presented by Kindle, presented this challenge to school-aged children throughout the country in the Spellebrity Video Contest. After a panel of judges reviewed all the submissions, they narrowed the field down to 10 semifinalists.
The teams’ imagination and level of innovation impressed the judges.
We know how talented and creative children can be and these videos even surpassed our expectations,” said Paige Kimble, executive director of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. “They clearly demonstrate their love of reading, and we are impressed with their video-producing skills. Just as there is an endless supply of ideas for books, these video finalists came up with original concepts to tell an important story.”
Teams showcased their creativity in a variety of ways, from using special effects and stop-motion animation to show a child’s reading adventure within the pages of a book to incorporating sign language from a deaf education program to list their favorite books and explain the benefits of reading. Contest rules limited video teams to no more than four members; the videos had a limit of less than five minutes; and they had to include at least three words that might be important to know for a spelling bee.
Voters can find all 10 semi-finalist videos and choose their favorite online at Spellebrity.com.
Voting guidelines
- The voting window is from 9 a.m. Monday, April 18 through 11:59 p.m. Friday, April 23.
- Voters can go to Spellebrity.com to watch the videos and vote.
- Every voter has one vote per day.
- Voters must be in the United States.
- Voters must be at least 13 years old.
Introducing the semifinalists
The 10 teams competing for the top five finalist positions include:
- Kendle Kindles from Canfield Middle School in Post Falls, Idaho
- Wordventures from IPS Center for Inquiry #84 in Indianapolis, Indiana
- Lexi’s Productions from St. Peters Lutheran Church in New Haven, Indiana
- Kimberly Noorlander from Oneonta Middle School in Oneonta, New York
- Nathan & Nico of Winton Woods Middle School in Cincinnati, Ohio
- Wright Deaf Ed from Wright Elementary in Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Just Read It from River Grove Elementary in Lake Oswego, Oregon
- The Escape Artists from Harrison Junior School in Harrison, Ohio
- Team Electric Imagination from Colony Meadows Elementary in Sugar Land, Texas
- SLV Kids from Blacksburg New School in Blacksburg, Virginia
Here is a montage of these creative kids' work to help promote literacy:
Teams have eyes on the prize
The prizes begin at the semifinal stage, where each member of the 10 teams receives a Kindle Paperwhite.
The top five teams who go to the finals win the following:
- Each member of the Semifinalist teams (10) will receive a Kindle Paperwhite.
- Each member of the Finalist teams (5), as selected by popular vote, will receive an expenses-paid trip to the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee:
- Economy airfare or train fare for each team member and a parent/guardian
- One standard hotel room at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center
- $400 gift card for travel and meal expenses
- Complimentary tickets for each team member and parent/guardian for the National Zoo experience, a Bee-organized tour of Washington, D.C., and the Awards Banquet
Each member of the champion team selected by the Scripps National Spelling Bee participants win a $1,000 cash award and a trophy.
