Two local students and their word coaches have been preparing for the Hampton Roads Regional Spelling Bee (the "Bee Battle") to be held Saturday at Fort Monroe in Hampton.

Connie Warner, library assistant at Peasley Middle School and a volunteer with Adult Literacy, has been working with Jeffrey Cho, a seventh grader at Peasley, who is returning to the regional bee for the second consecutive year. This team has met weekly to prepare.

In addition to preparing for the spelling bee, Jeffrey is consistently named to the school’s A Honor Roll, is on the basketball team and robotics team, works with SCA, and he is a member of the Yearbook Club. Jeffrey won the local spelling bee which is sponsored by Adult Literacy on the Middle Peninsula, Inc., by successfully spelling "immaculate."

Also attending will be Allison Hughes from Port Haywood, a fifth grader who attends Ware Academy and who says that language arts is her favorite subject this year. Allison has wo...