79th Scripps National Spelling Bee
Encyclopedia
The 79th Scripps National Spelling Bee
was held in Washington, D.C.
, on May 31 and June 1, 2006. For the first time in the Bee's history, ABC
broadcast the Championship Rounds on primetime television.
A thirteen-year-old eighth-grader from Spring Lake, New Jersey
, Katharine "Kerry" Close, won the Bee on her fifth attempt, correctly spelling Ursprache in the twentieth round. She was the first female champion since 1999. Finola Hackett of Canada
placed second after misspelling weltschmerz
.
The 275 spellers (139 boys and 136 girls) participated in the competition. This Bee was also remarkable because an extremely rare error had made its way into the judges' word lists. This Round 8 error, had it not been found and reported quickly, would have resulted in the erroneous elimination of Saryn Hooks, who correctly spelled the Hebrew-derived word hechsher, meaning a rabbinical endorsement of food. The judges' word list, however, listed the word as "hechscher." The error was first caught by Lucas Brown, who then promptly notified the judges. Saryn Hooks was reinstated and went on to take third place.
ESPN
, which had televised the final rounds of the bee in their entirety since 1994, aired the Preliminary Championship Rounds. (CNN televised the final rounds from 1991–93.) ESPN SportsCenter
anchor Chris McKendry
hosted the ESPN broadcast and ABC Good Morning America
anchor Robin Roberts
hosted the ABC broadcast, with former finalist Paul Loeffler serving as the analyst for both broadcasts, and Chris Connelly filling the sideline reporter role. Both ESPN and ABC broadcasted the event in high-definition
.
Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is a highly competitive annual spelling bee in the United States, with participants from other countries as well. It is run on a not-for-profit basis by The E. W...
was held in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, on May 31 and June 1, 2006. For the first time in the Bee's history, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
broadcast the Championship Rounds on primetime television.
A thirteen-year-old eighth-grader from Spring Lake, New Jersey
Spring Lake, New Jersey
Spring Lake is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 2,993....
, Katharine "Kerry" Close, won the Bee on her fifth attempt, correctly spelling Ursprache in the twentieth round. She was the first female champion since 1999. Finola Hackett of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
placed second after misspelling weltschmerz
Weltschmerz
Weltschmerz is a term coined by the German author Jean Paul and denotes the kind of feeling experienced by someone who understands that physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind...
.
The 275 spellers (139 boys and 136 girls) participated in the competition. This Bee was also remarkable because an extremely rare error had made its way into the judges' word lists. This Round 8 error, had it not been found and reported quickly, would have resulted in the erroneous elimination of Saryn Hooks, who correctly spelled the Hebrew-derived word hechsher, meaning a rabbinical endorsement of food. The judges' word list, however, listed the word as "hechscher." The error was first caught by Lucas Brown, who then promptly notified the judges. Saryn Hooks was reinstated and went on to take third place.
ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
, which had televised the final rounds of the bee in their entirety since 1994, aired the Preliminary Championship Rounds. (CNN televised the final rounds from 1991–93.) ESPN SportsCenter
SportsCenter
SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major...
anchor Chris McKendry
Chris McKendry
Chris McKendry has been a journalist for ESPN since 1996. Currently, she primarily serves as co-anchor of the 12-3pm ET weekday block of live SportsCenter shows, alongside John Buccigross...
hosted the ESPN broadcast and ABC Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
anchor Robin Roberts
Robin Roberts (newscaster)
Robin René Roberts is an American television broadcaster. Roberts is the co-anchor of ABC's morning show Good Morning America-Early life:...
hosted the ABC broadcast, with former finalist Paul Loeffler serving as the analyst for both broadcasts, and Chris Connelly filling the sideline reporter role. Both ESPN and ABC broadcasted the event in high-definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
.