New York - The annual Direct Archdiocesan District Spelling Bee Competition will be held at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Headquarters (8 East 79 Street, NYC) under the auspices of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009 at 11:30 a.m. Competing will be the school bee champions of the 10 Greek American parochial day schools in New York City. Archbishop Demetrios will present all bee champions with a"Certificate of Award" and a silver cross.
This year, the Hellenic Times Scholarship Fund will be sponsoring the Archdiocesan District Spelling Bee Competition by granting $100 to each school finalist and with $500 to the overall winner. Mr. Nick Katsoris, President of the Fund and children's book author of the Loukoumi series will present the check to each of the finalists along with a signed copy of his book, "Growing up with Loukoumi," which teaches children to believe in themselves.
The HTSF, founded in 1989 by Katsoris and John and Margo Catsimatidis, has awarded over 600 scholarships through the years totaling nearly $2 million.
The Spelling Bee Competitions are an educational promotion sponsored by The E.W. Scripps Company in conjunction with over 260 newspapers around the world. Its purpose is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabulary, learn concepts, and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives. It is open to boys and girls, in grades 5 through 8, who will not reach their 16th birthday on or before May 2009.
The program takes place on two levels: local and national. Sponsors organize spelling bee programs in their locales and send their champions to the finals of The Scripps National Spelling Bee that takes place in Washington, DC, in the spring.
The newspaper DAILY NEWS is sponsoring the event for the New York City area public and nonpublic schools. The Direct Archdiocesan District Office of Education is organizing the competition for the New York City parochial day school students.
For more information about the spelling bee competitions, please visit www.spellingbee.com <http://www.spellingbee.com> and www.myspellit.com <http://www.myspellit.com> .
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