2026 Cloverleaf Spelling Competition Set for February 24

Students from Southwest Michigan to compete for chance to advance to national bee

Published on Feb. 14, 2026

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The 2026 Cloverleaf Spelling Competition, organized by Berrien RESA, will take place on February 24 at the Lake Michigan College Mendel Center in Benton Harbor. The annual event gathers some of the best spellers from Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren counties to compete for the chance to represent Southwest Michigan at the national Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee.

Why it matters

The spelling competition provides an opportunity for students to showcase their spelling skills, gain experience in public speaking, and potentially advance to the national spelling bee. While spelling may seem like an outdated discipline in the digital age, the competition helps develop well-rounded education and important life skills.

The details

The competition will feature 54 students from 18 schools representing grades three through eight. The spellers earned their spots by winning their school-level spelling contests earlier this school year. Students will compete for cash prizes, with the top prize being paid admission to the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee held in Washington, D.C. in the spring.

  • The 2026 Cloverleaf Spelling Competition will take place on February 24, 2026.
  • The Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee is held in the spring each year.

The players

Berrien RESA

The regional educational service agency that organizes the Cloverleaf Spelling Competition.

Tonya Snyder

The RESA student talent coordinator who oversees the spelling competition.

Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee

The national spelling competition that the winner of the Cloverleaf Spelling Competition will advance to represent Southwest Michigan.

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What they’re saying

“It's an annual event gathering of some of the best spellers from Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren counties, and we establish a winner, and that winner heads on to represent Southwest Michigan at the national level.”

— Tonya Snyder, RESA student talent coordinator (wsjm.com)

“It gives those students some extra skills. One of them would be standing up in front of a group of people under kind of stressful circumstances. Since spelling — while it's important, it is not as heavily emphasized sometimes as other skills. It's pretty intense to stand up in front of a group of people and do something that not many other people are asked to do in their life.”

— Tonya Snyder, RESA student talent coordinator (wsjm.com)

“Just practicing those word lists over and over and over again. The list of words that the Bee that we will run pulls from 4,000 words. And so, honestly, the best practice is just, while you're driving in the car, have mom or dad tell you some words and practice spelling them. Or while you're at the grocery store, read things. Reading and spelling are correlated, so read labels on cans. Read books, but read food things. Read all of the things that you can get your hands on. Just exposure, visual exposure to words, helps you understand letter combinations and how they're said.”

— Tonya Snyder, RESA student talent coordinator (wsjm.com)

What’s next

The winner of the 2026 Cloverleaf Spelling Competition will advance to represent Southwest Michigan at the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee held in Washington, D.C. in the spring.

The takeaway

The Cloverleaf Spelling Competition provides an important opportunity for students in Southwest Michigan to showcase their spelling skills, gain valuable public speaking experience, and potentially advance to the prestigious national spelling bee. The competition helps develop well-rounded education and life skills that will benefit the students long after the event.