Corbin Luna, a fifth-grader from Bacon District Elementary, represented Charlotte County Public Schools in this year’s Regional Spelling Bee Saturday, March 10. Luna won his school-level spelling bee in December, then was victorious at the county-level bee at Central Middle School in January.

His efforts earned him the opportunity to participate in The Richmond Times-Dispatch Regional Spelling Bee at the Library of Virginia in Richmond.

This year’s regional bee was won by Joseph Chambers of Henrico County. Tejas Muthusamy, also of Henrico, has won the regional bee and gone to the Scripps National Spelling Bee for the past four years. The last rounds were highly competitive with Chambers and runner-up, Cabrey Forward of Blessed Sacrament Huguenot Catholic School.

The competitors faced words such as “solferino,” “Phrygian,” and “escadrille.” The winning word was “braunschweiger.” Chambers will travel to the national bee, which takes place in May at National Harbor in Baltimore, Md.

Sylvia Lockett, Luna’s principal at Bacon District Elementary, had high praise. “We are so very proud of Corbin and all his hard work in preparation for this highly-competitive bee.” Added Joy Reeves, who coordinates the spelling bee program at Bacon, “Corbin showed great poise and sportsmanship during a very tough competition. It was a great experience for all of us watching him.”