IT HAS become a rite of spring.

The 25th Annual Belmont County Spelling Bee unfolds tonight at Ohio University Eastern.

It will bring together the best spellers throughout the county, determined by bees at their respective schools.

Two spellers from each school punched their ticket into tonight’s extravaganza.

It’s a special honor for the young students to advance to the county bee. We commend all those contestants for excelling at their home schools.

The pressure and stakes escalate at OUE beginning at 7 p.m.

Participants will be vying for the chance to advance to the 85th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee. That prestigious spell-off will be staged June 1-2 in Washington, D.C.

Tonight’s eventual champion will also walk away with more than a trip to the national contest.

The titlist will be awarded a trophy, a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond, Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, the Samuel Louis Sugarman $100 Series EE U.S. Savings Bond and a plaque featuring the two winning words.

The runner-up will receive a $500 bond, trophy, dictionary and a one-year subscription to the Britannic Kids Online Student Edition.

AJ Feiock of Union Local was the 2010 Belmont County champion.

Regardless of tonight’s eventual outcome, each contestant has demonstrated he or she has what it takes to be a winner. Each has responded to pressure and attained success.

We commend the bee sponsors — The Times Leader and Riesbeck’s –?for their commitment to our youth. We thank all the officials involved in making the event such a worthwhile undertaking.

We also congratulate Taylor Crow. The St. Clairsville Middle School sixth grader was the winner in this year’s artwork competition.

To all of tonight’s spellers, we wish the best of luck. We hope they all bring their “A” games to the OUE event.