In 2000, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Spelling Bee achieved national and international acclaim when hometown champion George Abraham Thampy brought home the national trophy for correctly spelling throughout 15 rounds at the national bee. Through George's effort, many people will never forget the correct spelling and meaning of his championship word, "demarche," which is derived from the French language and means "a line of action."

Each year more than 60,000 students participate in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Spelling Bee beginning at the school level. For these students, the spelling bee is about both critically important language skills as well as the enormous sense of accomplishment that comes with taking part in this educational tradition.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has been the proud local sponsor of the regional Spelling Bee for over 50 years. This year, the Post-Dispatch has partnered with Maryville University as the official sponsor and host of the regional bee. Through this partnership, over 800 schools across the Metro area will receive free copies of the Post-Dispatch containing the Official Spelling Bee word list.

Last year, students in kindergarten through eighth grade in over 800 schools in Missouri and Illinois entered the annual bee, competing in the first round against students from their own schools.

Exceptional spellers who win their own school's spelling bees qualify for the regional St. Louis Post-Dispatch Spelling Bee, held over two weekends in March at Maryville University. Each year the St. Louis Post-Dispatch sends the regional champion to represent St. Louis at the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., broadcast on ESPN and ABC.