A contestant prepares to spell a word during the Radford University regional spelling bee on March 16, 2024. For the second straight year, the university will welcome Southwest Virginia’s top spellers to compete for a berth in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
RADFORD – Radford University will welcome 29 spelling champions from schools across Southwest Virginia to compete for a berth in the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 22 at 10 a.m. on the Artis Center Main Stage.
This marks the second straight year that Radford has served as a regional bee partner. The winner will be sponsored by Radford University to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee near Washington, D.C., May 27-29. The bee is celebrating 100 years in 2025.
Audrey Lee of Andrew Lewis Middle School in Salem, winner of the Radford regional bee last March, is scheduled to compete again. Lee advanced to the quarterfinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2024 and finished tied for 60th.
For the first time, the regional bee will be held in the Artis Center for Adaptive Creativity and Innovation, which opened in August 2024. The Main Stage hosts plays, dance concerts, fashion shows, special events and the University Performance Series events. The hall can seat more than 500 patrons and is equipped with state-of-the-art computer consoles, projection and sound systems, and LED lighting fixtures.
City of Radford Mayor David Horton will again serve as bee emcee and Radford University Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Bethany Usher will give welcoming remarks. Stirling Barfield, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, will perform the role of bee pronouncer.
Patrick Reed for Radford University