W-i-n-n-e-r.
That describes each of the 25 students who will compete Saturday in The News & Advance Regional Spelling Bee at Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School for Innovation.
The annual event, which begins at 9 a.m. in the auditorium, features top spellers from public and private schools in Lynchburg and Campbell, Amherst and Appomattox counties.
The student who wins the regional bee will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. in May.
Besides the trip to Washington, he or she will win the Samuel Lewis Sugarman Award ($100 savings bond), a one-year subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica online and a free Valerie’s Spelling Bee Supplement.
Former Altavista Combined School student Mary-Michael Robertson won the regional bee in 2010 and 2011, representing the region in Washington.
According to her mother Donna Robertson, Mary-Michael has moved on to high school at Chatham Hall in Chatham as a day student, participating in a journalism class and writing articles for the school paper, among other activities.
Robertson said her daughter remains in contact with a friend she made from New Zealand at the National Spelling Bee. She credits Mary-Michael’s love of reading for providing her with a strong base as a speller.
The judges for this year’s regional contest are Lynchburg Mayor Joan Foster, City Council Ward IV Representative Turner Perrow, Jr., and Logan Anderson, Opinion Page Editor of The News & Advance.
The pronouncer again this year will be Margie Lippard, director of development at the United Way of Central Virginia and adjunct professor of English at Randolph College. Monique Crawley, of The News & Advance, will coordinate the event for the second year.
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