For the third year, the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas will sponsor the Arkansas State Spelling Bee. The event will be held on Saturday, March 5 at the Arkansas 4-H Center in Little Rock. Due to adherence to current pandemic protocols, it will be closed to the public.

Approximately 61,500 students from 393 schools in 56 counties across Arkansas have participated in local and county contests leading up to the March State Spelling Bee contest. 

One winner from each county will participate in the statewide spelling bee. 

The Arkansas winner will proceed to The Scripps National Spelling Bee, the nation’s largest and longest-running educational program. 

The purpose of the Scripps National Spelling Bee is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts and develop correct English usage that will help them throughout their lives. 

Avery Grayson Williams of Grant County was the winner of the 2021 Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas State Spelling Bee. The Sheridan Middle School student is the son of Nick and Summer Williams.

Learn more about the Arkansas State Spelling Bee at: www.aecc.com/spellingbee

The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas comprise 17 electric distribution cooperatives; Arkansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (AECI), a Little Rock-based cooperative that provides services to the distribution cooperatives; and Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. (AECC), a generation and transmission cooperative. The distribution cooperatives provide electricity to approximately 600,000 homes, farms and businesses in Arkansas and surrounding states.