BEE NOTES || 52 spellers compete

52 spellers compete

The Vindicator 82nd Regional Spelling Bee Saturday at Youngstown State University included 52 spellers from public, community, private and home schools in Mahoning and Trumbull counties. Twenty boys and 32 girls competed in the event, all of whom were champions of their respective schools’ competitions. It was the same number of contestants as last year.

Moment of silence for bee judge

Saturday’s bee started with a moment of silence observed for bee judge Leslie Kiske who died in November. Kiske, a retired Boardman schools teacher who also taught non-native English speakers at The English Center, served as a bee judge for 10 years.

More spelling in winner’s future

As the winner of The Vindicator 82nd Regional Spelling Bee, Annabelle Day, 13, an eighth-grader at Willow Creek Learning Center in Boardman, will represent the Mahoning Valley among 270 of the country’s best spellers. She’ll compete in the 88th Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. The national contest begins May 27. The newspaper underwrites the trip for Annabelle and one of her parents, covering the cost of transportation, hotel accommodations and other expenses. Students in the national event tour historic sites in the nation’s capital and participate in many other activities planned for spellers by Scripps Spelling Bee officials.