22 of the country's brightest young lights heading to Ottawa...

March 20^th 2008 CNW Release 

Spelling bee champions from 22 Canadian cities have now been determined after a series of regional spelling bees over the past several weeks - the final two held this past weekend in Regina and Kamloops. These 22 young spelling superstars are gearing up to challenge themselves and each other at the 2008 Canwest Canspell National finals in Ottawa/Gatineau in April.

Canwest Canspell remains a free educational program open to students across Canada, thanks to the generous support of the presenting sponsor, Canada Post. A significant investment by Canada Post - which covered a new fee of $99 US per school as initiated by the organizers of the Scripps Spelling Bee in the United States - means that top Canadian spellers will be able to compete not only in Ottawa, but also internationally at the Scripps bee in Washington, D.C. in May.           

"Canada Post is thrilled to be Canwest's partner in presenting this exciting, educational and fun event," said Robert Waite, Canada Post's senior vice-president of Corporate Social Responsibility. "As the spellers prepare for the final event, we commend their enthusiasm for learning, dedication to words and commitment to excellence. On behalf of everyone at Canada Post, I wish each participant the spelling competition of a lifetime."   

School spelling bees were held during January in all ten provinces, with approximately 225,000 students taking part. Some 1,200 students advanced from the school level to compete at regional bees in 22 cities - Victoria, Vancouver, Prince George, Kamloops, Penticton, Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Hamilton, Windsor, Ottawa, Montreal, Saint John, Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown and St. John's.

Air Canada is flying each of the 22 winning spellers and an accompanying parent to the National Finals. Top prize at the event is the $15,000 AIC Award, a laptop from Canada Post and the winner's name on the Canspell Cup, along with the title of Canada's champion speller.               

All 22 regional winners will also be sent to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. in May, courtesy of Air Canada.     

"Canwest Canspell continues to celebrate and reward scholastic achievement, and we're proud to watch these remarkable young students take the stage to showcase their word power and poise," said David Asper, Executive Vice President of Canwest Global Communications Corp. and Chairman of National Post. "We are especially pleased to witness the Canspell program doubling in size and scope in just a few short years. Four years ago we created Canspell as a fun way to engage young people in a love of language and learning. We started with spelling bees in 11 cities and Canspell has grown and expanded to include bees in 22 cities from coast to coast."               

Canwest Canspell engages all of Canwest's media properties, plus 11 partner newspapers outside of the company, including extensive promotion in newspapers and on television, and on a popular Web site complete with games and study tips and a weekly feature by Canada's Word Lady, Katherine Barber, Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary. The preliminary rounds of the 2008 Canwest Canspell national final will be available live online at www.canspell.com and will take place on April 18th, 2008. The final rounds will be televised from the Canadian Museum of Civilization on Global Television, and NTV in Newfoundland and Labrador, on Saturday April 19th at 8 p.m. in most markets (check local listings).  

Fans are encouraged to cheer on the regional winners in the days and weeks leading up to the national finals. A contest at Canada Post retail outlets allows families, friends and other spelling supporters to submit "Bee Mail" messages to the country's top spellers as they prepare to match wits and words at the Canwest Canspell National finals.               

For more information on the contest, please visit the Canwest Canspell Web site: www.canspell.com.
 

Canwest Canspell 2008 National Finalists
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VICTORIA: Victoria Lan from Royal Oak Middle School
VANCOUVER: Grace Tsai from Chief Dan George Middle School
KAMLOOPS: Curtis Bogetti from South Kamloops Secondary School
PRINCE GEORGE: Breanna Siemens of John McInnis Junior Secondary School
OKANAGAN: Julieann Huttemann from Rossland Secondary School             
CALGARY: Cody Wang from John Ware Junior High School             
EDMONTON: Austin Davis from Ecole Dickinsfield School
LETHBRIDGE: Tegan Odland from Enchant School
SASKATOON: Anqi Dong from Greystone Heights School
REGINA: Spencer Warriner from Alameda School
WINNIPEG: Chris Sigurdson from George Waters Middle School
THUNDER BAY: Logan Turner from Agnew H. Johnston Public School
TORONTO: Jessica Zung from the University of Toronto Schools
HAMILTON: Veronica Penny from Hamilton Homeschool Association
WINDSOR: Rachel Stadder from Glenwood Public School
OTTAWA: Emma Brownlie from D. Roy Kennedy Public School
MONTREAL: Emilie Lafleur, a Grade 6 student from St. Lambert Elementary
SAINT JOHN: Maggie Millican from Quispamsis Middle School
HALIFAX: Bethany Dickey from Bicentennial Junior High
SYDNEY: Samara Blakeney from Cape Smokey Elementary School
CHARLOTTETOWN: Jonathan Schut from Grace Christian School
ST. JOHN'S: Mikayla Walsh from St. Mary's Elementary School