On Coffee at KYUK, we’re joined by Indigenous language statewide spelling bee organizer Freda Dan. The ninth annual statewide Yup’ik spelling bee championship and the first annual statewide Iñupiaq spelling bee championship will occur April 17 at the Arctic Rec Center in Anchorage. The Iñupiaq spelling bee will be from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., and the Yup’ik spelling bee will be from 12:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Students in third to eighth grades are eligible to compete.
The students competing in the Yup’ik spelling bee are from Wendler Middle School in the Anchorage School District, Tukurngailnguq School in the Bering Straits School District, and Nunam Iqua School in the Lower Yukon School District.
Students competing in the Iñupiaq spelling bee are from Brevig Mission School in the Bering Straits School District.