The Center for Bilingual Studies (CBS) at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is hosting the 2026 Torneo de Ortografía del Valle del Rio Grande on Saturday, March 28, 2026, from 8 AM- 12:00 PM and our 1st annual Batalla de los Libros event from at UTRGV’s College of Education & P16 Integration on the Edinburg campus.

The Torneo de Ortografía del Valle del Rio Grande is an annual competition in which 2nd-12th grade students from across the Rio Grande Valley and undergraduates from UTRGV demonstrate their Spanish spelling skills. The tournament aims to help bilingual students feel proud of their language and culture and promote their use of Spanish in an academic context. Our goal for this year is to continue the tradition and also increase our number of participants, so we have invited students from 37 school districts from Laredo to Brownsville. We anticipate roughly 300-400 students participating in the event this year. Each student earns a medal for participation, and the top five winners from each category (Primaria, Intermedia, Secundaria, Preparatoria y Universitaria) earn a trophy. Additionally, we recognize the first place winners of each category a Copa Rotante housed at their campus.

This year, we have invited districts that offer dual language programs across the region for our Batalla de los Libros event, in which students from 3rd-5th grade are required to study three culturally relevant novels in Spanish and use their reading skills to compete for the grand prize. UTRGV’s Center for Bilingual Studies is an interdisciplinary research center that brings together faculty from colleges across the university to collaborate on research and other learning initiatives that advocate for bilingual families and engage communities across the region.