Spellers sought for regional bee

The Corning Rotary Club will again host the Scripps Regional Spelling Bee on March 10, 2016, an event that has produced a national co-champion and several finalists in recent years.

Regional school districts and home-school organizations in the following counties can participate: Allegany, Broome, Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga and Tompkins in New York, and Bradford and Tioga in Pennsylvania.

Two years ago, regional winner Sriram Hathwar, of Painted Post, was co-champion of the national event. Last year, his younger brother, Jairam Hathwar, made it to the sixth round of the national contest, one word short of reaching the finals.

The regional contest is seeking school district and home-school groups to register at spellingbee.com and conduct local spelling bees for grades one through eight. Entry fee is $136 if registered by Oct. 15, or $211 after that date. Deadline to enroll is Dec. 11.

School districts and home-school groups can send one winner and one runner-up to the regional bee, which is held at Campbell Jr.-Sr. High School.

The winner will represent the region in the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee in the Washington, D.C. area in May.

Kraft Foods returns as a sponsor of the 2016 regional spelling bee. Other sponsors are expected. Sponsors will provide an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. for the regional winner, as well as T-shirts, trophies and other prizes.

For more information, call Deborah Joseph at (607) 329-6854 or email dajoseoh007@gmail.com