44th Annual Washington Informer Citywide Spelling Bee
Office of Cable Television, Film, Music & Entertainment (OCTFME)
History of the City-Wide
Spelling Bee
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 44th 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.
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.
Donate to The Spelling Bee
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
The Washington Nationals are excited to welcome all Spelling Bee finalists and their families to Nationals Park on May 3rd!
You’ve been spelling like absolute all-stars and have truly knocked each round out of the park!
Congratulations on everything you’ve achieved so far!
2026 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
• Three Tickets to the Washington Nationals game on May 3, 2026
• Hotel stay for the week of The Scripps National Spelling Bee at one of the host hotels – courtesy of The Washington Informer and Washington Informer Charities
• Washington Informer swag bag with assorted gifts from sponsors
Place Winner: 2 nd
• 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
• Three Tickets to the Washington Nationals game on May 3, 2026
• Washington Informer swag bag with assorted gifts from sponsors
The fourth time is a charm!
After competing four years in the 44th annual Washington Informer Citywide Spelling Bee, Nora Baker, an 8th grader at BASIS DC is this year’s reigning champion! (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer.
Leila Ghista (left), a 4th grade student at Lafayette Elementary School placed 2nd in the 44th annual Citywide Spelling Bee standing with 2026 winner Nora Baker. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)
Place Winner: 3rd
• Finalist Trophy – courtesy of The Washington Informer and Washington Informer Charities
• Safeway Gift Card
• Three Tickets to the Washington Nationals game on May 3, 2026
• Washington Informer swag bag with assorted gifts from sponsors
44th D.C. Citywide Spelling Bee Showcases Academic Excellence Among Youth
By Demarco Rush WI Contributing Writer
While Nora Baker had to familiarize herself with many words leading up to The Washington Informer’s 44th Annual Citywide Spelling Bee, one she knows very well— and embodies— is “persistence.”
After competing in a few bees and placing second last year, Nora walked away with the top prize at the D.C. Office of Cable, Television, Film, Music and Entertainment (OCTFME) in Northeast,
D.C. on March 14.
“I was very happy and satisfied that I finally won it after four years,” she told The Informer.
Winning the bee took hard work, Nora said.
“For the last few months I would do 30 minutes a day on the Word Club app after school,” the eighth grader said.
Leila Ghista, a fourth grader who placed second in the bee, also said regular practice made all the difference in feeling prepared for the competition.
“It wasn’t easy but it was [exact-
5 Students compete in the 44th Annual D.C. Citywide Spelling Bee at the D.C. Office of Cable, Television, Film, Music and Entertainment in Northeast, D.C. on March 14. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)
ly] what I thought it would be,” she told The Informer. “I [made sure] to study all the words.”
Nora and Leila were among the top 30 spellers from schools across the District who put their skills to the test in the citywide bee, sponsored by OCTFME, National Cherry Blossom Festival, Comcast, District of Columbia Public
Schools, Foundation for the Advancement of Music & Education Inc. (FAME), Pepco, Safeway Foundation, Sign-a-Rama (Silver Spring), Washington Gas and The Washington Nationals.
“Pepco is proud to sponsor The Washington Informer Spelling Bee and support an event that uplifts literacy, learning, and academic achievement for students across our communities,” Pepco said in a statement.
Michelle Musgrove, VP of customer experience at Washington Gas, explained that the company supports the annual competition as part of a larger mission to empower others.
“When we invest in young people, we invest in stronger communities and better outcomes for everyone,” Musgrove said in a statement. “Washington Gas is proud to support opportunities that help students grow into capable, confident leaders.”
Beyond the competition itself, the event served as a space for stu-
3 Washington Informer (WI) Advertising and Marketing Director Ron Burke, Anamika Ghista, second-place winner Leila Ghista, first-place champion Nora Baker, Chuck Baker and WI Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes at the 2026 D.C. Citywide Spelling Bee. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)
“For the last few months I would do 30 minutes a day on the Word Club app after school,” the eighth grader said.
dents to build confidence, sharpen discipline and face pressure headon, lessons organizers say matter far more than simply winning or losing.
“Kids come in and they do the spelling bee and I always tell them, look at this fun, weird skill you have that people will reward,” Jason Moore, the bee’s coordinator, told The Informer.
BUILDING SPELLING SKILLS
Leila, a student at Lafayette Elementary, entered the competition with confidence built through preparation.
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“I knew I would do well and at least make it to the final five,” she told The Informer.
Daily practice sessions with her teacher and studying thousands of potential words helped the fourth grader supersede her goal of making it to the final five.
“I liked practicing every day with my teacher, it was really interesting and fun,” she said.
For students like Leila, the spelling bee isn’t just a competition, it’s a chance to grow, learn, and return even stronger the next time around.
“I want to come back next year and learn about all the words and [their] languages of origin,” she added.
Going forward, spelling practice has not slowed down for Nora, who is preparing for the national competition at DAR Constitutional Hall in Northwest, D.C. on May 26-28.
“I’m going to have to prepare a little differently for this one because it’s open to the entire dictionary rather than a list of 4000 words,” she said. “[But regardless]
I think it’s just really fun to compete against other people.”
What Nora viewed as friendly competition, felt like an intense matchup for her father Chuck Baker.
“The bees themselves are incredibly nerve-racking,” he told The Informer. “I’m a big sports fan but there’s really nothing quite like your kid standing up there, all by herself… and she gets some word that sounds impossible and she just spits it out [easily].”
Despite the high-stakes competition, Nora is prepared to face whatever words come her way during the next phase of the bee.
“[My] winning word was Portugais,” she said. “When I got the word, I knew I finally had won because I was 100% positive I knew the word.”
MORE THAN A BEE:
‘THE
BEST LIFE LESSON A CHILD CAN GET’
For Moore, the annual competition is about far more than a trophy, accolades and advancing to nationals.
do is to work with students and families to see what excellence is and show, not how easy it is to attain it, but how attainable it is,” he told The Informer.
“My absolute favorite thing to
Although she won this year’s top prize, Nora walked away from the competition with lessons that stretched beyond spelling. Focusing, the 2026 winner said, is
critical when working to achieve a goal.
“Try the hardest you can and try to block out all the distractions,” she emphasized. Parents also witness the wealth
of benefits of participating in such programming like The Washington Informer and WI Charities Spelling Bee. Anamika Ghista, Leila’s mom, praised the organizer for creating a welcoming environment for students, despite the competitive nature of the annual competition.
“Jason Moore, the way he does it, he’s so positive,” she said. “He encourages all of the kids and just makes it such a great experience for them so that it’s not a high-pressure experience.”
Moore emphasized the spelling bee is about much more than vocabulary. It’s about growth.
“No matter how nervous [some get] they’re pushing through their fears and nerves, and that is about the best life lesson a child can get,” he told The Informer.
WI
3 Eighth grader Jonah Meyer and fifth graders Abigail Elias and Sarala Chauvot de Beauchene compete in the District’s Citywide Spelling Bee, held at the D.C. Office of Cable, Television, Film, Music and Entertainment in Northeast. (Roy Lewis/ The Washington Informer)
3The 44th annual Washington Informer Citywide Spelling Bee coordinator Jason Moore. (Roy Lewis/ The Wahington Informer)
Meet the Spellers
Kiera Shields Saint Peter Grade 6
Oriana Manzillo
Chassidy
Olivia Grant Watkins Elementary School Grade
Baker
Thea Archambault-Davis
Joan Christensen St. Peter School Grade 6
Daniel Chen
Brook Mekonnen Center City Brightwood
Cali Cade Noyes ES
Ayesha Nameerah Browne E.C Grade Asim
Annabelle Perl Fifth Grade National Cathedral School
Joelle Charity Ida B. Wells Grade 7
Jonah Meyer
Madison Curry Sousa MS Grade 8
Atticus Odell Alice Deal Middle School
Elias Smith
Sayge Turner Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan Grade 8
Vivian Lee Brent Elementary School Grade 3
Maeve Newman Oyster Adams Billingual School Grade 7
Sarala Chauvot de Beauchene Francis Scott Key Elementary School Grade 5
Meet The Pronouncer
Mr. David Zahren was most recently a television instructional specialist with Prince George’s County Public Schools’ Department of Television Resources and Web Services. Dave officially retired from PGCPS in June, 2025, after 51 years of service, but has returned as a contractor so that he can continue to produce and host The Science Bowl program, now in its 40th year of competition.
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 nationwide 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 25th 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 fourteen 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 2026 Judges
(L-R)
Jason Moore, MA; Literacy and Humanities Assessments & Interventions
Jackie Flot Director, Learning Management Systems and Strategy
Nijma Esad, MA, MLIS; Library Programs
Elizabeth V. Primas, Ed.D, Education Program Manager
(Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)
Capture the Moment
4 Jason Moore, coordinator of the 44th Annual Washington Informer Citywide Spelling Bee, encourages student participants and gives instructions. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)
Capture the Moment
3 Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes and Advertising Manager Ron Burke greet students participating in the 44th
March
(Roy
Air Date – Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at 7:00PM on DKN (It will be posted on the streaming network, DCE, on April 15. Parents and students can download the app by going to dcenetwork.com)
4 4TH ANNUAL SPELLING BEE
5 Pronouncer David Zahren talks with second-place winner Leila Ghista, first-place champion Nora Baker (left).
annual Washington Informer Citywide Spelling Bee at OFCTME on
15.
Lewis/The Washington Informer)
5 Parents and participants chat at the 44th annual Washington Informer Citywide Spelling.
Capture the Moment
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 44th 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!
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