Feb. 11 Update ~ The bee will be delayed by two hours because of weather. Student participants should arrive by 9:45 a.m. Feb. 13 for check-in and the event will begin at 10:30 a.m.

Feb. 7, 2025 ~ More than 45 exceptional spellers will compete Thursday, Feb. 13, in the Olathe Public Schools Spelling Bee. The doors open at 7:45 a.m. with the competition beginning promptly at 8:30 a.m. in the Santa Fe Trail Middle School auditorium, 1100 N. Ridgeview Rd., Olathe. 

The bee will be introduced by Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education Dr. Jill Smith. Words will be pronounced by retired speech-language pathologist Gayle Bergstrand, and LuAnn Hermreck, Shelley Lierz, and Mary Matthew will serve as the judges. Awards will be presented by Executive Director for Elementary Education Dr. Liz Harrison. 

The winner of this bee will be eligible to compete in the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in the Washington, D.C. area May 25-31. The Olathe Public Schools and the Olathe Public Schools Foundation sponsor the Olathe Spelling Bee. 

Building representatives are: 

• Arbor Creek Elementary School — Hunter MacKenzie
• Bentwood Elementary School — Jaxon Carroll
• Black Bob Elementary School — Holland Tschirhart
• Briarwood Elementary School — Timothy Hinckley
• Brougham Elementary School — Daniel AlBadrawi
• California Trail Middle School — Vrisan Karanam
• Canyon Creek Elementary School — Mia Makus
• Cedar Creek Elementary School — Charlotte Phelps
• Central Elementary School — Dylan Rodriguez
• Chisholm Trail Middle School — Landon Chen
• Christ Lutheran School — Ariel Orscheln
• Clearwater Creek Elementary School — Barkot Mikiyas
• Countryside Elementary School — Emmanuel Pallares
• Fairview Elementary School — Nicole Clark
• Forest View Elementary School — Hope Handke
• Frontier Trail Middle School — Caleb See
• Green Springs Elementary School — London Browne
• Havencroft Elementary School — Matthew Oquist
• Heatherstone Elementary School — Piper Christensen
• Heritage Elementary School — Reid Sharp
• Indian Creek Elementary School — Alex Allphin
• Indian Trail Middle School — Adele Gibbens
• Madison Place Elementary School — Barkon Abiy
• Mahaffie Elementary School — Sofia Franz
• Manchester Park Elementary School — Siddharth Harwani
• Meadow Lane Elementary School — Aarav Madaiah
• Millbrooke Elementary School — Tiffany Han
• Mission Trail Middle School — Said Hamadache
• Northview Elementary School — Oliver Venning
• Oregon Trail Middle School — Jaida Brewer
• Pioneer Trail Middle School — Caleb Eiben
• Pleasant Ridge Elementary School — Isaac Voss
• Prairie Center Elementary School — Anderson Hash
• Prairie Trail Middle School — Maxwell Gorman
• Ravenwood Elementary School — Simon Pence
• Regency Place Elementary School — Jeremy Chen
• Rolling Ridge Elementary School — Hazel Horswill
• Santa Fe Trail Middle School — Miriam Daniela Hernandez Enamorado
• Scarborough Elementary School — Justin Frantz
• Summit Trail Middle School — Hannah Leach
• Sunnyside Elementary School — Anishka Ragi
• Tomahawk Elementary School — Violet Gagne
• Walnut Grove Elementary School — Audrey Vietti
• Washington Elementary School — Giovanni Gamez
• Westview Elementary School — Alistair Gleason
• Woodland Elementary School — Ayaansh Sharma