MOUNT
VERNON, NY – January 16, 2007 -- Mayor Ernest D. Davis today conducted a
Noontime Press Conference to announce the City of Mount Vernon’s participation
in the National Spelling Bee.
The City of Mount Vernon
, The Youth
Bureau, the Mount Vernon
City
School District
and the Mount
Vernon PTA Council are proud of their collaboration on a city wide spelling
bee. The spelling bee is a long standing tradition in Mount Vernon; It
first begun as a school wide competition in 1990 at Parker Elementary School
under the guidance of Ms. Isabelle Ellis, PTA Council Member and Ms. Mary
Spells, Retired Principal. There has been a district wide spelling bee
for the past four years. This year, for the first time, the Mount Vernon
Spelling Bee is organized and conducted under the rules of the Scripps National
Spelling Bee. Each participating school will adhere to the national
guidelines and regulations—to avoid disqualification. The Mount Vernon PTA
Council and the Mount Vernon
City
School District
have partnered
to host the Mount Vernon Spelling Bee in late March of 2007. The winner
of the Mount Vernon Spelling Bee, in the fourth through eighth grade category,
will advance to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which will be
held in Washington
,
DC
on May 30 and May 31, 2007
.
Mount Vernon
is the only
municipality in Westchester
County
registered with
the national bee. The Mount Vernon Inquirer, published by Joseph
Parisi, is the sponsor for the spelling bee. The City of Mount Vernon
is a co-sponsor
of the spelling bee along with its Seed Funders, Charles Stern, Camille
Banks-Lee, The Fleetwood Neighborhood Association, and The PTA Council.
The Mount Vernon Spelling Bee Committee is comprised of community members and
school officials namely, Debra Stern, PTA Council Member; Susan Granata, PTA
Council Member; Isabelle Ellis, PTA Council Member; Tahira DuPree Chase,
English Language Arts Administrator; Mary Spells, Interim
Principal-Longfellow
Elementary
School
; and Sharon Bradley, Administrator of
Special Programs.
The Scripps Bee is the Nation’s largest and longest-running
educational promotion, administered on a not-for-profit basis by The E.W.
Scripps Company. This year, 243 sponsors from the United States
, Europe
, Guam
,
Jamaica
, Puerto Rico
, the U.S. Virgin
Islands, The Bahamas, and American Samoa
will send their
national finalist to Washington
,
DC
to compete in
the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee. A Mount Vernon
City
School District
student will be among the over 270 students who will receive national
recognition for his or her participation in the 2007 Scripps National Spelling
Bee!
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