Introducing the 11 finalists of the Canwest CanSpell National Spelling Bee

    OTTAWA, April 18 /CNW/ - Over the course of the past three days, our
nation's capital has been swarming with some of Canada's brightest kids as the
2008 CanWest CanSpell National Spelling Bee festivities got underway.
    After some serious sightseeing yesterday, and surely some studying since
their arrival, 22 of the country's finest spellers made their way to the
Canadian Museum of Civilization this morning via police escort to spell out
for their friends, family and fans just how smart they are.
    These super spellers showed even the most studious of fans in the
audience a thing or two about spelling as they made their way through 7 rounds
in this morning's preliminary competition. Showing some serious word power
were the following 11 spellers who will move on to tomorrow's final - taking
place at 10:00am tomorrow morning at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, and
airing at 8:00pm on Global Television and NTV in Newfoundland/Labrador (check
your local listings):

    Victoria Lan
    Sponsored by Times Colonist
    Royal Oak Middle School - Victoria, BC
    Grade 7 - Age 12

    Victoria hails (fittingly!) from Victoria which she proudly points out
has "blossoms and flowers in February and March!" Victoria enjoys reading,
playing piano, doodling and swimming. Along with her parents and two older
sisters, Victoria's family also includes a fat rabbit named Turbo.

    Grace Tsai
    Sponsored by The Vancouver Sun
    Chief Dan George Middle School - Abbotsford, BC
    Grade 8 - Age 14

    Grace calls her home town of Abbotsford "a peaceful and halcyon place,
like a Shangri-la outside of Vancouver". Besides her mom and dad, Grace has
one younger sister. Her role model is Shinichi Kudo, a fictional teenaged
genius and detective in a popular Japanese manga series. Grace spends her
spare time reading, playing instruments, listening to classical music, as well
as playing badminton and biking.

    Julieann Huttemann
    Sponsored by The Daily Courier & The Penticton Herald
    Rossland Secondary School - Rossland, BC
    Grade 8 - Age 12

    Julie learned to read at the age of two and her first book was Mother
Goose. Although her favourite subject is Art, Julie thinks all of her teachers
are great and she "loves the way they teach and find a humourous side to
everything". Julie is an avid reader who also enjoys both cross-country and
downhill skiing and making arts & crafts. Julie tells us that "Rossland is a
ski town, with hundreds of tourists each winter (not to mention locals!) who
come to ski on Red Mountain."

    Curtis Bogetti
    Sponsored by The Daily News
    South Kamloops Secondary School- Kamloops, BC
    Grade 8 - Age 13

    A two-time Regional Bee winner, Curtis says his favourite word is
"schuhplattler" (a Bavarian courtship dance) which was one of the words in
Scripps final rounds last year. His other favourite things include: Lost
(television show); Catcher in the Rye (book) and the Beatles (band). He
considers John Lennon to be his role model because "he was for peace". Curtis
enjoys hanging out with his friends, watching television and SPELLING!

    Breanna Siemens
    Sponsored by Prince George Citizen
    John McInnis Junior Secondary School - Prince George, BC
    Grade 8 - Age 13

    Breanna's favourite subjects are Math and English. When she is not
preparing for spelling bees, she likes to listen to music, read, watch
television and hang out with her friends. Breanna really admires people who
work hard to succeed in achieving their goals. Besides her parents, Breanna is
cheered on by an older brother, a younger sister and the family cat.

    Cody Wang
    Sponsored by Calgary Herald
    John Ware Junior High School - Calgary, AB
    Grade 8 - Age 13

    A two-time Regional Bee winner, Cody's favourite word is "rhupunt" (a
Welsh rhyming verse) because it is a difficult one to spell. Cody enjoys both
listening to AND playing complex piano and trumpet pieces, as well as reading,
video gaming, surfing the Internet and playing with technology. Cody considers
his parents to be his role models "because they are intelligent, friendly and
hard workers". A proud Calgarian, Cody recommends a visit to Cowtown in July
because "the Calgary Stampede is a fantastic summer event!".

    Austin Davis
    Sponsored by Edmonton Journal
    Ecole Dickinsfield School - Fort McMurray, AB
    Grade 7 - Age 12

    Austin hails from Fort McMurray where he tells us the city's motto is "we
have energy"! Austin has a fair bit of energy too, and in his spare time
enjoys snowboarding, snowblading, soccer, biking, training his dog Mango and
reading (always!). Along with his parents, Austin shares his home with cats,
his dog Mango, and a foreign exchange student from Germany. Austin's favourite
subject is Math and his favourite teacher (not surprisingly his Math teacher)
is Mr. Fougere "because he has a great personality!".

    Jessica Zung
    Sponsored by National Post
    University of Toronto Schools - Toronto, ON
    Grade 8 - Age 13

    Jessica's favourite books are those in the classic Chronicles of Narnia
fantasy series by C.S. Lewis, especially The Horse and His Boy. Her favourite
television show is Star Trek and she loves romantic era music. When not
studying, Jessica enjoys playing the flute and reading. She considers her mom
to be her role model saying "I admire her for her persistence and diligence".
Along with some pet guppies, Jessica shares her home with three brothers.

    Veronica Penny
    Sponsored by CHCH News
    Hamilton Home School Association - Ancaster, ON
    Grade 4 - Age 10

    Veronica prepares for spelling bees by first putting on her pajamas,
getting into bed and getting comfy! She considers her mother her role model
because "she has taught me practically everything I know". When not comfy in
bed and studying, Veronica enjoys listening to rock and roll and country
music, reading, eating and swimming. She also enjoys her hometown football
games and rooting for the Ticats!

    Emma Brownlie
    Sponsored by Ottawa Citizen
    D. Roy Kennedy Public School - Ottawa, ON
    Grade 8 - Age 13

    Emma's first book was J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, which she read at the
age of six, and it remains her favourite book today. She studied for the Bee
with a computer program created by her father, along with verbal drills with
her mother. In her free time, Emma enjoys horseback riding, hockey and
swimming. She has a younger brother, Nicholas, a cat named Gandalf, and a
rabbit called Blackberry. Emma tells us that her hometown of Ottawa has the
longest skating rink in the world!

    Jonathan Schut
    Sponsored by The Guardian
    Grace Christian School - Cornwall, PEI
    Grade 7 - Age 13

    Jonathan will enjoy his third time at the CanSpell National Finals! His
favourite word is "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis" which
Jonathan says is the longest word in the dictionary! He points out that an
interesting note about his hometown of Cornwall is that the traffic lights
turn off at 11:00 p.m.! Jonathan enjoys curling, playing baseball and
listening to country music. His closely-knit family includes his parents Pam
and Mike, his brothers Devin and Mitchell, his sister Kayla, and a dog named
Nike.

    In tomorrow's finals, one of these superstars will spell their way right
to the top and win some fabulous prizes. Not only will they get their name
etched on the coveted CanWest CanSpell Cup, the winner of this year's National
Spelling Bee will receive a $15,000 AIC Award and a brand new laptop computer,
courtesy of Canada Post.

    About CanWest CanSpell

    CanWest CanSpell engages all of Canwest's media properties - plus 11
partner newspapers outside of the company - by way of extensive promotion in
newspapers and on television, and on a popular website complete with games,
study tips and a weekly feature by Canada's Word Lady, Katherine Barber,
Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary. For more information on the
program, please visit the CanWest CanSpell website: www.canspell.com.

    About Canwest

    Canwest Global Communications Corp. (www.canwest.com), (TSX: CGS and
CGS.A) an international media company, is Canada's largest media company. In
addition to owning the Global Television Network, Canwest is Canada's largest
publisher of paid English language daily newspapers and owns, operates and/or
holds substantial interests in conventional television, out-of-home
advertising, specialty cable channels, web sites and radio stations and
networks in Canada, Australia, Turkey, Indonesia, Singapore, the United
Kingdom and the United States.

For further information: For media inquiries, please contact: Judie
Dahl, Email: jpdahl@telus.net, Tel: (604) 790-0251