Spelling bee champions from 40 area schools will compete in The Missourian’s regional spelling competition, The Bee, on Saturday, March 21, at East Central College. This is the fifth year for The Bee, sponsored by hth companies.Schools have been preparing since September to select their school champion who will represent them at this spelling competition. Students in grades four through eight were eligible to advance to The Bee, where they’ll have the chance to win medals, trophies and cash prizes.Warren County students who will compete in The Bee include Ariana Camarena, Daniel Boone Elementary, Olivia Morgan, Rebecca Boone Elementary, Laura Ennis, Warrior Ridge Elementary, and Hope Chitwood, Holy Rosary.To help students prepare for both their school spelling bees and The Missourian’s regional competition, the newspaper published a 12-page Study Guide to The Bee in January. The resource still may be accessed on The Missourian’s Newspaper In Education pages at www.emissourian.com.ECC will host the competition in the John Edson Anglin Performing Arts Center. Jon Bauer, president of East Central College, will serve as the pronouncer.Judges will be Sue Henderson and Leigh Kolb, ECC English faculty, and Shannon Grus, ECC Foundation executive director.The Bee steering committee includes Dot Schowe, East Central College, Jennifer Baker, Washington School District, Eric Lause and Jennifer Hawkins, St. Clair School District, Terri Ogle and Patty Kellmann, retired educators. Dawn Kitchell, educational services director for The Missourian, organizes The Bee.Students were provided a word list in the study guide to prepare for The Bee, and the competition words will come from that list – at least to a point. According to the official rules, if the judges are unable to determine a champion through the word list provided to the schools, they’ll pull out a “secret list” of words to use.A salute to the school champions from Warren County who will compete in The Bee on March 21 is published in this week’s issue of Warren County Record.Family, teachers, friends and the general public are invited to watch The Bee, which begins at 9 a.m.The Bee