SugarBee^® is proud to support the Scripps National Spelling Bee^®

Inspiring Wonderment and Curiosity

Each year, more than 11 million students embark on an amazing spelling bee journey. They progress from competing in classrooms and cafeterias to auditoriums, civic centers, and stadiums all the way to the national stage for a chance to earn the title of Champion. Those 11 million students represent more than 20,000 schools that enroll in the Scripps National Spelling Bee program annually.

SugarBee® apple growers honor the commitment of more than 70,000 educators who continue to champion the Scripps National Spelling Bee program year after year. And to all of the families and students who work hard each year to compete in local, state, and national competitions, we are proud of your continued drive to excel.The Bee’s mission to inspire wonderment and curiosity aligns with one curious bee who carried pollen from an unknown tree to a honeycrisp tree and made our beloved SugarBee® apple possible!

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is a true piece of Americana, and a microcosm of the American dream of inclusion, courage, achievement, and victory. It is an experience shared by children and adults of every race and background who have called this country home.

Dr. Alexander Carr

2024 Educator of the Year

Once a competitive speller himself, the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee Educator of the Year credits his classroom spelling bee for helping him learn the English language.

“I’m a second language learner,” said Dr. Alexander Carr, teacher at Orlando Gifted Academy in Florida.

“When I was in school and learning English as a language, we’d do the spelling competition, so I became really interested in spelling.”

Carr moved to Florida from Puerto Rico in elementary school. While he doesn’t remember how far he made it in the competition or what word knocked him out, the lessons he learned from the spelling bee stayed with him.

“You may not be the most athletically inclined person, but that doesn’t keep you from competing,” he said. “You can compete with your mind.”

Eight years ago, while teaching at a Title 1 school in Florida, Carr started a class for junior high students to compete in math, robotics and spelling competitions. His teaching and the students’ practice paid off.

Each year, a member from that class won the school spelling bee and advanced to the regional competition. Carr said it opened the door for those students to get opportunities they might not have had otherwise.

“Some of the students that were in that class had not even left their small neighborhood area,” Carr said. “Those experiences are extremely valuable.”

In 2018, Carr began teaching at the Orlando Gifted Academy and started the school’s first spelling bee program. As the bee’s coordinator, his goal was to make sure the program was inclusive of all students, regardless of their abilities or language barriers.

“Just because you have certain limitations doesn’t mean you’re incapable of doing extraordinary things,” Carr said.

One of the students he teaches has partial hearing loss. While putting together the school’s competition this year, he made sure the sound system was upgraded and working properly, while also having the pronouncer use a microphone.

“We are inspired by the way Dr. Carr helps students feel included and sets them on a path to success,” said Corrie Loeffler, executive director of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

For the first time this year, one of Carr’s students – sixth-grader Velvizhi Sethirayar – advanced to the national competition. He knows she’ll put her best foot forward and give her best performance, regardless of the outcome.

As a former competitive speller, Carr had one piece of advice for his younger self.

“It’s OK that you have an accent,” he said. “It’s OK that you may not know what some words are – that is OK. In time, you’ll get to where you need to be.”