When a person hears the word bee, most likely the first thought is an insect that flies around buzzing. However, the buzz this weekend wont be the black and yellow kind, but those participating in the regional spelling bee in Athens on Saturday.

While some may see these events as old-fashioned and out-dated with the types of technology in today’s society, we could not disagree more, as they can serve several positive purposes.

Spelling bees are extremely important for our young people, as it provides them the ability to learn to spell a variety of words and have a better understanding of what those words actual mean.

They also provide students the ability to compete with other students outside of the traditional sense we often relate to sports in schools. Additionally, the event creates a sense of accomplishment for many participants, regardless of whether they ultimately win or not.

This weekend, four Lawrence County students will put their spelling acumen at the forefront in the quest to move on to the national spelling bee in our nation’s capital, and we applaud the commitment and hard work put forth to reach this level.

Those four students are Emily Neal and John Tyler from Chesapeake Middle School, Olivia Kingrey from Dawson-Bryant Elementary and Holli Leep from Fairland Middle School.

We wish all four the best this weekend, and hope to see one of our local students move on to Washington D.C. later in the year.