World's largest digital platform Epic announced as official reading partner to the Scripps National Spelling Bee
Oct. 4—REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Epic, the world's largest digital reading platform for kids, announced today a new partnership with the world-famous Scripps National Spelling Bee to further support its two million teachers and 60 million student subscribers. The partnership represents both companies' commitment to promote the strong connection between spelling and reading.
When schools enroll in the Bee's yearlong program, schools will receive access to Epic's newest platform offering, Epic School Plus, at a discounted rate. This new product allows teachers the chance to provide their students with 24-hour access to the platform of over 40,000 books, seven days a week, year-round. In a recent poll conducted by Epic in September 2023, 92% of Epic educators feel like regular reading improves their students' spelling skills and over half liked the idea of an Epic partnership with the Bee, with one teacher in the survey remarking that this partnership is a way to help students with their spelling abilities.
"We are excited about the collaboration with the famed Scripps National Spelling Bee to nurture and promote a deep affection for reading," Kevin Donahue, co-founder of Epic, said in a news release. "We recognize that reading is a catalyst for growth across various academic areas and we are excited about our role in championing spelling skills."
As the Bee's official reading partner, Epic will provide:
— For schools: Discounted pricing for Epic School Plus, Epic's newest offering. Epic school subscribers will also have special access to a partner code to extend the early registration rate throughout the Bee's entire enrollment period.
— For families at enrolled schools: A seven-day free trial for Epic with a 25% discount on an annual subscription.
— For school bee champions: A 30-day free trial for Epic Family.
— For regional spelling bee champions: A free one-year subscription to Epic Family.
"We hear from so many spellers in the Bee's program that reading was the spark for their love of language and spelling," said Corrie Loeffler, executive director of the Bee. "The Bee's partnership with Epic is a natural way we can catalyze that connection between reading and spelling, while giving educators easy access to tools that will support their students' exploration and love of learning."
Tynker, a renowned program to learn coding, has also joined the 2024 Bee program as its official coding partner to help kids enhance their critical thinking and pattern recognition skills through coding. This partnership is creating several opportunities:
— For families at enrolled schools: Access to Buzzing Bee, a free 60-minute Bee-themed live 1-on-1 online coding class during which they will create a fun, word-based game that showcases their spelling skills and a 30-day trial of a Tynker home plan with a 40% discount on an annual subscription.
— For school champions: A microcourse of four live, 1-on-1 coding classes on Tynker.
— For regional spelling bee champions: A free one-year subscription for a Tynker home plan and a custom micro-course of eight live, 1-on-1 coding classes on Tynker.
Both brands will be onsite at the Bee's national competition over Memorial Day week in National Harbor, Maryland. Their presence will include a meet and greet from writers of Epic Originals and a coding workshop from Tynker.
Additionally, for Computer Science Education Week 2023, Tynker and the Scripps National Spelling Bee have co-developed My Favorite Word, a free art and coding project where elementary and middle school students can showcase definitions and etymologies of their favorite words.
For more information or to sign up your school to participate in the Bee, please visit spellingbee.com/enroll.
