Pupils vie to be top speller

The annual Columbia County Spelling Bee returns Monday to Grovetown Middle School.

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Representatives from each of the school system's elementary and middle schools will compete for a chance to move on to the regional spelling bee finals held March 7 at The Augusta Chronicle . The regional winner will then compete for the national title in Washington, D.C., on May 26-28.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is among the more recognized academic competitions in the world. The final round of the contest will be televised live on ESPN.

Though much of education news lately has focused on math and science programs, Mike Lindsey, the school system's director of middle-school student learning, said an event like the spelling bee reminds everyone of the importance of communication skills.

"If we look at the success of students in the future, we'd be hard pressed to find any area of academics more important than written and oral communication," Lindsey said.

The county bee starts at 4:30 p.m. A reception will be held at 4 p.m.