Coordinated
by the District of Columbia Public Schools
Spelling Bee
Spelling Bee History of the City-Wide
In 1980, Dr. Mary E. White, former supervising director, D.C. Public Schools Division of Instructional Services, Department of English, believed it was time for D.C. students to participate in Scripps National Spelling Bee. The national competition was held annually in the Nation’s Capital, but without a sponsor, D.C. students could not participate. Dr. White appealed to Washington Informer Publisher Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, Sr., to assist with finding a sponsor. He decided to personally take on the challenge and The Washington Informer became the official sponsor of the D.C. Citywide Spelling Bee in 1981.
The first citywide spelling bee was held at Backus Junior High School in Northeast in March 1982. John Krattenmaker, a sixth-grade student at Mann Elementary School in Northwest, was the winner. Dr. Rolark became disgruntled after learning Scripps denied John’s participation in the National Spelling Bee due to a rule that only daily newspapers qualified for sponsorship. The Washington Informer was published weekly.
Dr. Rolark, a board member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the trade association for over 200 Black-owned newspapers in the U.S., concluded that the national spelling bee’s policy was discriminatory. There were no Black-owned daily newspapers in the U.S. The policy essentially blocked Black-owned publications from sponsorship even in markets where no other publication would sponsor a local spelling bee.
Dr. Rolark engaged legal counsel from his wife, Attorney Wilhelmina J. Rolark, who informed Scripps of their plans to file an injunction in the D.C. Superior Court prohibiting the national competition to be held in the District of Columbia until a ruling was given on the merits of their case. Scripps quickly reversed its policy, and the following year, the national spelling bee winner was sponsored by the Loudon County Times, a weekly newspaper based in Loudon County, Virginia. The Times was the only other weekly newspaper to participate along with The Washington Informer in the national spelling bee that year.
Nearly 4,000 students enrolled in more than 200 D.C. schools, including private, parochial, independent, charter, and home-schools, participated in The Washington Informer Citywide Spelling Bee each year. For 36 years, the Citywide Spelling Bee was held live and recorded at the NBC4 television studios and later aired for general viewership throughout the Washington metropolitan area.
In 2020, the 38th Annual Spelling Bee was held in the studios of the Office of Cable Television, Film, Music, and Entertainment (OCTFME). In 2021, due to the pandemic, the 39th Annual Citywide Spelling Bee was held virtually with students still eager to participate despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year marks the 43rd Annual Washington Informer Citywide Spelling Bee. School participation is high, students are eager, and sponsors have generously given their support. With its mission to improve literacy among D.C. youths, and adults, The Washington Informer Charities is proud of its history and the role it continues to play to enhance educational opportunities for all.
Donate to The Spelling Bee
Purpose
Scripps, a diversified multi-media company, established the National Spelling Bee to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabulary, learn concepts, and develop correct English that will help them all their lives. Spellers experience the satisfaction of learning language not only for the sake of correct spelling but also for the sake of cultural and intellectual literacy.
The Washington Informer’s participation in Scripps National Spelling Bee helps to further the goals of Scripps in the District of Columbia and to address the issue of illiteracy, particularly among African American youth. “If we want to improve the quality of life for all Americans,” said the late Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, publisher, “then we must begin by teaching our children to read, which they will not be able to achieve until they can learn to spell.”
Trophy Table
65 Trophies and bobble heads courtesy of Washington Informer Charities.
2025 Prize List
1st
Place Winner:
• First Place Trophy – courtesy of The Washington Informer and Washington Informer Charities
• $300 gift Card - courtesy of The Washington Informer and Washington Informer Charities
• Safeway Gift Card
• Four Tickets to the Washington Nationals game on April 27th
• Hotel stay for the week of The Scripps
National Spelling Bee at The Gaylord –courtesy of The Washington Informer and Washington Informer Charities
• Washington Informer swag bag with assorted gifts from sponsors
2 nd
Place Winner:
• Second Place Trophy – courtesy of The Washington Informer and Washington Informer Charities
• $200 gift Card - courtesy of The Washington Informer and Washington Informer Charities
• Safeway Gift Card
• Four Tickets to the Washington Nationals game on April 27th
• Washington Informer swag bag with assorted gifts from sponsors
3rd
Place Winner:
• Finalist Trophy – courtesy of The Washington Informer and Washington Informer Charities
• Safeway Gift Card
• Washington Informer swag bag with assorted gifts from sponsors
5 1st Place - Zwe Spacetime - Louis Armstrong Homeschool - Grade 7 2nd place - Nora Baker - BASIS DC - Grade 7
Zwe Spacetime, Homeschool Student and Sibling of National Spelling Bee Champion, Wins the 43rd Annual Washington Informer Citywide Bee
By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
For local homeschool student Zwe Spacetime, winning first place at The Washington Informer’s 43rd Annual Citywide Spelling Bee was as easy as spelling pinafore, status quo, and, before that, a bevy of other multisyllabic words.
But what others described as a flawless victory, Zwe called a strong embrace of the English language, which he said stemmed, in part, from writing short stories under his father’s watchful eye and reading Peter Trudgill’s “The Long Journey of English.”
“It’s a book about…how English evolved over the centuries from a kind of simple language that was only spoken by a few hundred people in England,” said Zwe, a seventh grader who attends Louis Armstrong Homeschool. “Today, almost everyone speaks English. A lot [of English] words come from different languages. I wonder how it became what it is today, especially the variety like American English, African American vernacular English, et cetera.”
On March 15, Zwe bested 27 other elementary and middle-school aged spellers during more than two hours of competition that, at one point, came to a standstill with no spellers getting eliminated for at least five rounds.
By the time the competition winnowed down to Zwe, Nora Baker of BASIS DC Public Charter School and Bianca Curry of Alice Deal Middle School, judges had to tap into words not found in the spelling bee rolls.
Even so, Zwe held out a little longer, solidifying his spot during the 19th round, which forced Nora and Bianca to endure another round of competition for their placement.
Within a matter of weeks, Zwe will represent the District at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, where his older sister, Zaila Avant-garde, made history in 2021 as the first-ever African-American spelling bee champion.
While he expressed deep appreciation for the foundation his older sister laid, Zwe said
he looked forward to making history in his own way, especially as Scripps observes a critical milestone.
“I get to see what Scripps has planned for the 100th anniversary,” Zwe said. “I am preparing [by] learning words and trying to get one or two hours [a day] practicing. Just going to the computer screen and [practicing] the words.”
Zwe called his study regimen part of a schedule that he’s taken on as a student at Louis Armstrong Homeschool.
For the last three years, he has sat alongside his younger and older brothers as they practice foundational concepts and complete special projects, including a collection of short stories. No matter where Zwe travels across the District, he can be found with a book in hand, as was the case on March 15 when he and his father waited for the citywide bee to start.
Despite what others might consider a unique life, Zwe that he’s no different than any of his peers.
“I go to school like every other kid,” Zwe said. “I wake up, eat my breakfast, do my math and, also, I have a typewriter where I write all my winter stories on my own.”
A FIGHT TO FOSTER LITERACY IN THE DISTRICT
For another year, The Washington Informer, in collaboration with D.C. Public Schools (DCPS), Washington Gas, Pepco, Safeway Foundation, and Foundation for the Advancement of Music and Education, among other entities, hosted a citywide spelling bee taped at the Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment (OCTFME).
Participants, who represented several District public, public charter and private schools, advanced to the citywide bee after winning school-level spelling bees, as well as cluster bees that took place at THEARC earlier this year.
On March 15, each student stood at the podium as they spelled words that pronouncer David Zahren gave them. Spelling bee judges Jason Moore, Dr. Elizabeth Primas, and Dr.
3 Zwe Spacetime with his trophy and gifts after winning the Washington Informer’s 43rd Annual Citywide Spelling Bee. (Shevry Lassiter/ The Washington Informer)
5 Bianca Curry, a seventh grader at Alice Deal Middle School, spelling a word during the Spelling Bee, where she took home third place. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
Helen Behr listened intently for misspellings, while Maweuna De-Souza addressed a student’s challenge of an elimination.
OCTFME Director LaToya Foster and Denise Rolark Barnes, publisher of The Washington Informer and chair of Washington Informer Charities, opened the citywide bee with remarks, while DCPS Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee supported students as an audience member.
Ferebee’s visit to OCTFME happened weeks after the release of national testing data that showed fourth graders in the District making the highest gains among their peers nationally in the realm of math. It also took place amid the Trump administration’s decimation of the federal workforce, which, in addition to a House continuing resolution, threatens the District’s economic future.
Regardless, Ferebee spoke to the power of spelling bees to help DCPS, and other local education agencies, advance literacy goals.
“We want our students to be great readers,” Ferebee told The Informer. “Vocabulary obviously helps, which is related to spelling, and the competitions at the school level [and] the cluster level allow us to give all of our students this experience, which I think is really helpful.”
He emphasized the bees help build students for academic achievement and beyond.
“It encourages them to read, but the more they know about our great city, our world, it allows them to be stronger in these types of competition,” he said. ”It allows them to be great students in the classroom, but more importantly, a leader for us.”
NORA BAKER REFLECTS ON A LONG COMPETITION
By the fourth round of the citywide bee, more than half of the participants had been eliminated by the likes of: chortle; manifest; constabulary; pashmina, and pugilist.
As the bee went on, eliminations became less frequent. By the 11th round, Zwe, Nora, and Bianca remained standing. For the next eight rounds, each of them confidently, and without hesitation, spelled words that Zahran threw at them. That was until Nora and Bianca came across phlegmy, an adjective related to thick respiratory mucus, and melange, a noun that describes a melody.
For Nora, the bee went to the next level when spelling bee officials, as she called it, went off the books.
“I was surprised that the competition had been lasting this long,” said Nora, a seventh grader at Basis D.C. Public Charter School. “I realized that my competitors were really good.”
Last year, Nora came second to Noah Rowe, then an eighth grader at MacFarland Middle School in Northwest. In preparation for this year’s bee, Nora studied more than 4,000 words during study sessions that lasted half an hour per night for seven months.
That regimen, she said, allowed her to outlast most of her peers on March 15.
“I was so proud of myself because I did the best I possibly could,” Nora said. “I studied that list and I didn’t get a single word wrong until they went off of it.”
Though she admitted feeling disappointed by the outcome, she gave homage to Zwe, who she said demonstrated an appetite for victory in the cluster bees.
“I already could tell that he was going to be one of my competitors,” Nora told The Informer. “When I found out his sister won the national spelling bee a couple years ago, I knew he wants to study really hard and he deserves to win, no doubt.”
With academic interests that include math and physics, Nora said she wants to pursue an engineering career. For now, she has her sights set on her last year of spelling bee eligibility as she gears up to continue a journey that, as she recounted, started during her fifth grade year at BASIS DC PCS when her father gave her some encouraging words.
“He really pushed me to do this and he has always been a big supporter, no matter what,” Nora said about her father. “He knew that I was into competition. He got me into the idea of the spelling bee.”
BASIS DC PCS, Nora added, played just as significant a role in fostering her desire for excellence.
“Those are the values I align with,” Nora said. “Their structure has helped fuel that with the environment. It helped me get into that competitive mindset.”
BIANCA CURRY: A SPELLER WITH LIFE GOALS
As a third place citywide spelling bee winner, and two-time participant, Bianca Curry said she’s carving out her niche.
“I have a reputation for being that girl who’s good at spelling words,” Bianca told The Informer. “ It’s really fun and it’s something I can add to my list of extracurriculars when I’m applying to high school.”
In 2023, while a fifth grader at Janney Elementary School in Northwest, Bianca advanced to the citywide spelling bee, where she suffered defeat in the early rounds.
A year later, on her second attempt, Bianca got eliminated at her school bee. Both experiences, she said, informed, and even, inspired what she described as a winner’s mindset.
“I reminded myself that I was just going to do my best and that’s the best that anyone can do,” Bianca told The Informer. “It’s important to be able to stay calm, even when you have something difficult, such as a word that you’re not sure that you can spell.”
In preparation for this year’s citywide bee, Bianca used the Word Club app and practiced with her mother for hours at a time. She said she also relied on word roots she learned as a sixth grader and her lifelong love of reading that often manifests in her acquisition of new words via movie subtitles.
“Everywhere I look, I’m reading something,” said Bianca, who counts Michael Crichton’s “Jurassic Park” and the “Hunger Games” series among the books she’s currently reading. “Because I read so much, I know a lot of words already. Knowing all the words in a spelling bee has also helped me when reading because I’m able to understand so much more now.”
With academic and career interests that include psychology, linguistics, and screenwriting, Bianca said she’s taken lessons from the citywide spelling bee that can help her along her academic and professional journey.
“You have to make a goal for yourself,” Bianca said. “It’s very important in my educational life and probably onward in life to be able to study for something, to be able to read something or learn about something and be able to comprehend it and then be able to tell others about that thing. Being consistent and disciplining yourself can help you in life with your ability to build stamina.” WI
@SamPKCollins
5 LaToya Foster, director of the Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment (OCTFME), greets spellers. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
4 DC Public Schools Chancellor Lewis Ferebee encourages spellers participating in the 43rd Annual Citywide Spelling Bee. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
Lilith “Gidget” Horn JO Wilson Grade 5
Lucy Newman Oyster-Adams Bilingual School Grade 8
Bianca Curry Alice Deal Middle School Grade 7
Liyu Lemlem Elsie W Stokes Community Charter School - Brookland
Abdoul-Kader Harakoye Friendship Woodridge Public Charter School Grade 8
Alden Davis Payne Elementary School Grade 5
Kulsom Sulaimankhil Garrison Elementary School 5th Grade
Clara Collings Hyde Addison, Grade 5
Sofia Medvedeva John Eaton Elementary School Grade 5
Zakhi Taylor Friendship Woodridge Middle Grade 8
Nora Baker BASIS DC Grade 7
Curran Turner Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan Grade 4
Holden Consentino Rose L. Hardy Middle School Grade 8
Rose Davis Brent Elementary School Grade 5
Juliana Lux Calado Pagdilao Watkins Elementary Grade 5
Jojo Veysey Janney Elementary School Grade 4
Eddel Takele Ross Elementary School Grade 3
Tomas Slutzky Murch Elementary School Grade 4
Izzy Szapiro Watkins Elementary School Grade 4
Dania Johnson Capitol Hill Montessori @ Logan Grade 8
Nathanya Kidane St. Augustine Catholic School Grade 7
Francis Montague Brent Elementary School Grade 4
Aurora Felton Alice Deal Middle School Grade 8
Mercy Thomas Center City Pcs -Brightwood Campus Grade 7
Ella Davies National Cathedral School Grade 5
Joseph Slaughter Payne Elementary Grade 5
Zwe Spacetime Louis Armstrong Homeschool Grade 7
Divya Gomaa Oyster-Adams Bilingual School Grade 8
Meet The Pronouncer
Dave Zahren Does More than Simply Speak Words Out Loud
Mr. David Zahren is currently a television instructional specialist with Prince George’s County Public Schools’ Depart ment of Television Resources and Web Services. This is his 51st year with PGCPS. Over the past 30+ years, Mr. Zahren has written, produced, and hosted four award-winning science programs that have aired on cable television: “Give Science A Hand,” a hands-on approach to science aimed at elementary school students; “Science Bowl,” an interscholastic science game show; “Under the Microscope,” a series of staff development programs for elementary teachers that also airs nation wide on PBS stations, and a new series, “Anatomy of a Lesson.” He is also the Pronouncer for The Washington Informer Citywide Spelling Bee in DC. This is his 23rd year as the Prince George’s County Spelling Bee Pronouncer.
Mr. Zahren is a cum laude graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh and has a master’s degree in school administration and human relations from George Washington University. In 1985, after a teaching career that had spanned 14 years, including three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nairobi, Kenya, Mr. Zahren was selected as Maryland’s Teacher in Space candidate. He was one of 100 teachers chosen from the 40,000 applicants nationwide to vie for a flight aboard the space shuttle Challenger.
Mr. Zahren has received a number of awards, including the CINE Golden Eagle, for his work as a science teacher, a television host and producer, and a space educator. He continues to produce and host public television programs with the Department of Television Resources and Web Services in Prince George’s County and served for 17 years as host of “It’s Academic,” a high school quiz program that aired on WJZ-TV, the CBS affiliate in Baltimore. He retired in 2015 from Washington’s WJLA-ABC 7/News Channel 8 after working 25 years as a part-time weather forecaster.
Meet the 2025 Judges
Manager: Literacy & Humanities Assessments & Interventions, DCPS
Dr. Elizabeth V. Primas, Ed.D Education Program Manager
Mawuena De-Souza Manager: Science, Technology, and Math Assessments & Interventions, DCPS
Jason Moore
(Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
Capture the Moment
Student participants in the 43rd Annual Citywide Spelling Bee, presented by The Washington Informer, stand with sponsor representatives from Washington Gas and Pepco. (Shevry
Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
Capture the Moment
Air Date – Tuesday, April 15, 2025 on DKN (It will be posted on the streaming network, DCE, on April 16. Parents and students can download the app by going to dcenetwork.com)
5 Seventh grade student Zwe Spacetime, who attends Louis Armstrong Homeschool, successfully spells a word before going on to win the Washington Informer’s 43rd Annual Citywide Spelling Bee. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
5 Nora Baker, a seventh grader at BASIC DC, smiles after hearing the word she spelled was correct. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
3 First place Spelling Bee winner Zwe Spacetime and second place winner Nora Baker participate in an interview with spelling bee pronouncer David Zahren. (Shevry Lassiter/ The Washington Informer)
Capture the Moment
4 Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes and Advertising Director Ron Burke stand with 2025 Spelling Bee winners after presenting first place winner Zwe Spacetime and second place winner Nora Baker with their prizes. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
(Middle and Bottom)
Washington, DC’s top spellers seated for the Washington Informer’s 43rd Annual Citywide Spelling Bee. (Ja’Mon Jackson/The Washington Informer)
2025 Summer Music WORKSHOPS
Join us this summer and take your music skills to the next level!
Registration for FAME’s 2025 Music Workshops is now open to middle and high school students who want to improve their musicianship, explore music composition, recording and production, and be introduced to Artificial Intelligence. This program offers a great opportunity for students to develop their musical abilities, learn from experienced professionals in the music industry, and music educators, and connect with other like-minded students.
The workshops are conducted in partnership with the University of Maryland School of Music, Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council, MNCPPC Department of Parks and Recreation, and Prince George’s County Government.
MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
FAME @ University of Maryland School of Music, College Park, Maryland
July 7-11, 2025 Music Technology Workshop – Middle School Instrumental Music Workshop – Middle School Instrumental Intensive Music Workshop - High School Strings Workshop - Middle & High School
FAME @ Harmony Hall Arts Center, Fort Washington, Maryland
July 14-18, 2025 Music Technology & Production Bootcamp
All sessions are held Monday – Friday, 9 am – 4 pm For additional information: famemusic.org • Summer@FAMEmusic.org • 301-805-5358 Register now to secure your spot and take advantage of the discounted rate. We look forward to you joining us!
Committed to a Brighter Future
At Pepco, we understand the importance of education and the role it plays in shaping a brighter tomorrow. We are committed to empowering our community’s future and supporting programs that encourage local students to develop their full potential.
By investing in the 43rd annual D.C. City-Wide Spelling Bee, we hope to inspire and empower the next generation of leaders and innovators. Congratulations to this year’s participants!
© Potomac Electric Power Company, 2025
