This year's spelling bee was a battle of champions

They stood toe-to-toe for a half-hour, parrying word after word. One slipping here, the other slipping there, but always regaining their footing until, finally, only one was left standing.
And so ended one of the longest elimination rounds in Vindicator Spelling Bee history Saturday, with Karen Cover of Reed Middle School in Hubbard taking home the trophy. Runner-up Kellianne Craig of St. Christine School, Youngstown, congratulated Karen, providing the perfect punctuation mark to the day's competition.
Throughout the year, The Vindicator is part of many student's lives, through its Newspaper in Education program, sponsorship of the Power of the Pen, its UpNext and School pages, and the participation by a number of staff members in student journalism projects.
But the spelling bee is a special tradition that has endured for nearly seven decades.
This year, 96 young men and women vied for the grand prize of a trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the 75th annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in May. While only one speller will go to the national bee, everyone of them left Saturday's competition at Youngstown State University not only with a new dictionary, but with new knowledge and a book of memories.
We're proud of them and proud of being a part of this one day in their lives.