She’s 13, Can Still Spell Laodicean

Meet Kavya Shivashankar, a 13-year-old speller from Olathe, Kan., who won the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday night.

Kavya was named the national champion in the Championship Round after correctly spelling the word “Laodicean” which is defined as “lukewarm or indifferent in religion or politics.”

An eighth grader at California Trail Junior High School in Olathe, Kavya represented The Olathe News in this year’s competition. This was the fourth Scripps National Spelling Bee in which she competed.

The spelling competition began Tuesday with 293 competitors who qualified to compete in the Bee by winning locally sponsored bees in their home communities.

The ABC Television Network broadcast the final rounds live, with replays tentatively scheduled to be aired on May 30 at 3 pm (ESPN2), June 2 at 11:30 pm (ESPNU), June 3 at 8:30 pm (ESPNU), and June 13 at 4 pm (ESPNU).

Finishing second in this year’s competition was Tim Ruiter, a 12-year-old seventh grader representing Times Community Newspapers of Reston, Va.

Finishing third was Aishwarya Pastapur, a 13-year-old eighth grader representing the State Journal-Register of Springfield, Ill.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is an educational program, administered on a not-for-profit basis by The E.W. Scripps Company and 287 local spelling bee sponsors in the United States, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Department of Defense Schools in Europe; also, the Bahamas, Canada, China, Ghana, Jamaica, New Zealand, and South Korea.

The purpose of the Scripps National Spelling Bee is to help students improve spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts and develop correct English usage.

Photo courtesy: Scripps National Spelling Bee

Disney Kids Channel in Central and Eastern Europe

The Walt Disney Company today (May 26) announced that it will re-brand its Jetix channels in five Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries to become Disney Channel, a leading kids TV brand.

Kid-driven, family inclusive Disney Channel is set to launch later this year in Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Bulgaria, increasing the channel’s distribution to 12 million households in the CEE region, says the company. Disney Channel will be localised for the market with programming dubbed in local languages.

Disney Channel series, according to the company, joined the Jetix CEE schedule last year and has helped strengthen the channel’s position.

Targeted at two distinct age groups, kids aged 2 to 5 and kids aged 6 to 14 and their families, Disney Channel will offer CEE viewers a mix of programming including live action favourites Hannah Montana, the animated series Phineas and Ferb and Disney Channel Original Movies High School Musical and Camp Rock.

The channel will also feature a daily Playhouse Disney programming block with a range of entertaining, learning-focused programming for preschoolers, including Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Handy Manny.

Meeting Disney’s Friends for Change

The Disney’s Friends for Change: Project Green initiative invites young people to join together to help the environment across four key areas: climate, water, waste, and habitats. The Walt Disney Company has launched the project. It’s a multiplatform environmental initiative that will help kids help the planet.

Disney stars Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, the Jonas Brothers, and Demi Lovato are among the 29 young stars participating in outreach messages to debut on Disney Channel, Disney XD, Radio Disney, and Disney.com.

Kids will learn practical ways to preserve the planet, track their collective impact, and have the opportunity to vote on how $1 million in donations from Disney will be divided and invested in various environmental causes over the course of a year.

Beginning today, May 15, Disney Channel and Radio Disney will air the first in a year-long series of on-air messages. It’ll feature Disney Channel stars challenging kids to join them in registering and pledging environmental stewardship. They can do so by making small changes in their daily actions that can positively impact the world around them.

Hasbro, Discovery JV to Create Kids TV Network

Children entertainment company, Hasbro, and Discovery Communications have decided to form a 50:50 joint venture (JV), including a television network and website, dedicated to children’s and family entertainment. The JV also will receive a minority interest in the U.S. version of Hasbro.com.

Both the network and the venture’s online component will feature content from Hasbro’s portfolio of entertainment and educational properties built over the past 90 years, including original programming for animation, game shows, and live-action series and specials.

New programming will be based on brands such as ROMPER ROOM, TRIVIAL PURSUIT, SCRABBLE, CRANIUM, MY LITTLE PONY, G.I. JOE, GAME OF LIFE, TONKA, and TRANSFORMERS, among others.

The TV network and online presence also will include content from Discovery’s library of children’s educational programming, such as BINDI THE JUNGLE GIRL, ENDURANCE, TUTENSTEIN, HI-5, FLIGHT 29 DOWN and PEEP AND THE BIG WIDE WORLD, as well as programming from third-party producers.

The network will continue to operate as Discovery Kids until the debut of the to-be-named channel and new programming slate. Discovery Communications will retain the Discovery Kids brand for, among other things, its international networks and its licensing and merchandising business.