Release Date: 3/17/2011 Contact: Diana L. Spencer, 410-887-4243
Phyllis T. Reese, 410-887-5908

Hereford Middle, Woodbridge Elementary students win first, fourth places in Baltimore Spelling Bee

Hereford student to represent Baltimore area in National Spelling Bee

TOWSON, MD. - Emerging from a field of nearly 60 competitors and facing words such as "megalopolis" and "mukhtar," Robbie Palmisano, an eighth-grader from Hereford Middle School, and Alexandra Grayson, a fifth-grader from Woodbridge Elementary School, won first and fourth places, respectively, in the Baltimore Spelling Bee.

As the winner of the Baltimore Bee for the second year in a row, Palmisano will again represent the Baltimore area in the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. The semifinals of the national competition will air live on ESPN from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 2. Later that day, the championship round will air live on ESPN from 8:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

The sixth annual Baltimore Spelling Bee, sponsored by Learn It Systems (an educational services company) and Towson University, took place on Saturday, March 12, at Towson University. The participants in the Baltimore Bee were students from Baltimore City and Baltimore County public, private, and parochial schools who had won spelling bees at their schools. The competition went for a record 33 rounds before the winner was determined.

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