The endurance and memorization skills of area students will be put to the test Friday morning in the annual Lauderdale County Spelling Bee, sponsored by The Meridian Star.

McCain Theatre at Meridian Community College will play host to the competition, which will feature 40 students from Lauderdale County schools, 40 students from Meridian schools and 20 students who attend private schools or who are home-schooled.

The competitors have been furnished by Scripps-Howard with a Padeia, a dictionary that provides a primer of many of the words the students will be asked and includes the word’s definition, country of origin and use in a sentence. Students may ask for the word to be defined, its origin and to be used in a sentence during the competition.

“It really depends on how much effort the student puts in and how much the parents and the teachers are willing to work with them,” said Barbara Williams, Newspapers in Education coordinator for The Meridian Star.

The winner of the local competition will move on to the Mississippi Spelling Bee on March 23 in Jackson. The student who prevails on the state level will go on to compete at the 77th annual Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., May 29-June 2. The national competition will be televised on cable network ESPN.

Williams said the spelling bee is a great learning tool for kids.

“It’s a very good way for them to broaden their vocabulary, and it also provides some scholarships if the student makes it to the state and national levels,” Williams said.

Friday’s competition will be broadcast live on Comcast Cable Channel 12 with a rebroadcast at a later date.