Secaucus, NJ -- (ReleaseWire) -- 01/14/2019 --Hudson Regional Hospital has signed on as the presenter of the 2019 Jersey Journal-Hudson County Spelling Bee.
"We jumped at the chance to support the Hudson County Spelling Bee as a great educational opportunity for the elementary and middle school students in our community who participate," said Dr. Nizar Kifaieh, president and CEO of the Secaucus hospital. "Good luck to all the participants and their families."
So far, 62 Hudson County schools have signed up to participate in the bee, which is set for Saturday, Feb. 23, at Secaucus High School's Arthur F. Couch Performing Arts Center. In case of very inclement weather, the bee will be held March 2.
The winner of the bee goes on to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee outside of Washington, D.C., in the spring.
All elementary school programs in Hudson County are invited to register to send their top speller to compete, said David Blomquist, editor and publisher of The Jersey Journal.
The bee, now in its 60th year, is sponsored by the Hudson County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, and County Executive Tom DeGise underwrites the champion's national participation. It is organized and directed by The Jersey Journal.
"We're thrilled to welcome Hudson Regional Hospital as this year's bee presenter,'' Jersey Journal editor-at-large Margaret Schmidt said. "It's so important for the larger community to support educational opportunities like this for the county's children."
The bee is open to students through grade 8 who attend Hudson County schools that have registered to participate.
Participating schools receive a virtual bee-in-a-box that includes study words, rules, pronunciation guides and an array of materials they may use to implement their own school spelling bees.
In addition to the grand prize of competing on the national stage at the Scripps bee, a variety of prizes will be given out at the local bee to the top Hudson speller and several runners-up.
To enroll, go to spellingbee.com. The deadline for registration is Jan. 31.
For more information, contact Spelling Bee Director Harvey Zucker at hzucker@jjournal.com.