Jane Huang Crowned 2006 Chicago Tribune City Spelling Bee Champ

CHICAGO, March 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Jane Huang, an 8th-grade student from Healy School, has won the 2006 Chicago Tribune Chicagoland Spelling Bee City Championship. Stephanie Ullman, an 8th-grader from Bernard Zell Ansche Emet Day School was runner-up.

In the 11th and 12th rounds of the competition, Huang correctly spelled shogi and philobiblist to win the competition.

Huang competed against 18 other top spellers from schools in the City of Chicago to win the title. A total of 73 words were used during the competition.

Huang, along with the suburban champion (WHO WILL BE DETERMINED THIS EVENING), advances to the 79th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., May 28 - June 2.

Huang's prizes for winning the competition include a Sony Vaio laptop, Canon Power Shot digital camera and a HP All-in-One Printer/Scanner/Copier provided by presenting sponsor Office Depot; a $1,500 CDW gift card; and roundtrip airfare for (him/her) and (his/her) parents to the National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. provided by ATA. Office Depot, ATA, CDW, McAninch Arts Center and the Chicago Public Library all sponsored the 2006 Chicago Tribune Spelling Bee City Final.

Chicago Tribune Company publishes the Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper with daily readership of nearly 2 million and nearly 3 million on Sunday. Together with other media businesses it operates -- including chicagotribune.com, RedEye, Hoy and Chicago Magazine -- Chicago Tribune Company reaches approximately 60 percent of adults in Chicagoland every week. Chicago Tribune is the founding publication of Tribune Company , one of the country's leading media companies with businesses in broadcasting, publishing and on the Internet.

PLEASE NOTE:

The suburban final of the Chicago Tribune Chicagoland Spelling Bee will be held tonight at 6:15 p.m. in the McAninch Arts Center Auditorium at the College of DuPage.