HAPPY TO BEE IN THE SPOTLIGHT SPELLER HEADED TO D.C.Byline: SUE DOYLE Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, -- Once upon a time, spelling bees spelling bee n. A contest in which competitors are eliminated as they fail to spell a given word correctly. Also called spelldown. Noun 1. were low-key affairs conducted in school auditoriums before an audience mostly of parents sitting on hard metal folding chairs. But in classic Hollywood tradition -- where overnight a lowly TV extra can turn megawatt meg·a·watt n. Abbr. MW One million watts. meg  a·watt movie star -- spelling bees have been discovered. The recent movie ``Akeelah and the Bee'' and the Broadway hit ``The 25th Annual Putnam County Putnam County is the name of 9 counties in the United States of America, many of which are named for Israel Putnam, who was a hero in the French and Indian War and a general in the American Revolutionary War:
The 79th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee will air on Thursday on ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. and ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network . Can you spell S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E? Fourteen-year-old David Pruden can. In fact, the Placerita Junior High School eighth-grader has learned tens of thousands of words in preparation for the national bee that begins Wednesday in Washington, D.C. David and his mother, Connie, have spent a year preparing, poring over a book of nearly 4,000 words sent from the bee organizers, and studying 23,400 words downloaded from the spelling bee Web site. David estimates that he has memorized about 20,000 words this year. While that may seem daunting daunt tr.v. daunt·ed, daunt·ing, daunts To abate the courage of; discourage. See Synonyms at dismay. [Middle English daunten, from Old French danter, from Latin to some, it wasn't to David. Nor is the idea of spelling these words before a prime-time audience. ``I don't really notice the audience,'' he said, recalling the regional and school spelling bee competitions. He studies for the bee a few hours each day, with more time devoted on weekends. So familiar with the different lists of words recommended by spelling bee organizers, David recognized which categories were used in ``Akeelah and the Bee.'' He saw the movie with his mother the day it hit theaters. ``In the movie, they mainly used champion words and ones that are missed,'' he said. While David coolly accepts the spelling bee's new place in pop culture and on prime-time TV, his mother is quite pleased with the turn of events. And what's her spelling bee word of choice to describe the spelling bee phenomenon? W-H-O-L-E-S-O-M-E, she said. ``This is so healthy and wholesome for the kids,'' Connie said. ``Anything with educational pursuits for the kids is just good news.'' sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com (661) 257-5254 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour SAC edition only) 14-year-old David Pruden shows off some of the words he may have to spell. Pruden will be going to Washington, D.C., to compete in the 79th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee. (2 -- ran in SAC edition only) David Pruden gets tested by his mother, Connie Pruden. Pruden will be competing in the 79th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. David Crane/Staff Photographer |
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