Many Urbana teen Anime/ Manga teens will be attending the Otakon convention. Otakon is the convention of the otaku generation: by fans, for fans; and will descend on Baltimore for the 20th Otakon on August 9-11, 2013. Put the date on your calendar now if you want to celebrate all anime, manga, and all facets of Asian pop culture!

There is something for everyone at Otakon. Start planning your Cosplay now. Cosplay is dressing as a character from a book/manga. If you love cosplay, Saturday is the day to walk the halls. The cosplayers swarm the corridors on Saturday, and the cosplay event itself is in the evening.

Otakon tries to have many events at which con-goers can meet or listen to guests-the artists, writers, actors, musicians, and production staff who create anime, movies, music, webcomics, and games. They will often appear at panels at which they speak and take questions from the audience. These panels are listed in the schedule and usually last between one and two hours, depending on who's speaking and how many people are on the panel. Often, a guest will also appear at a signing, where he or she will sign things like the Otakon Program Book, T-shirts, copies of manga or DVDs, and the like. The lines for these signings are often rather long, so it may be a good idea to show up a bit early.

At the Saturday night concert Otakon is bringing musical guests from Japan. T.M. Revolution (TMR) returns to Otakon 10 years after his US debut performance at Otakon 2003. TMR has a global fan base and reputation, especially with anime fans. Check out You Tube videos of his concerts. My favorite live concert song is "Heart of Sword". Expect huge crowds for TMR.

Mary Ann Foltz

Skateboarding demonstrations by Pit Crew of Frederick will follow at 2:30 pm in the parking lot. See you there!

June 17 at 1 pm for the party and 2:30 for the Skateboarding demonstrations. No registration; just drop by.

Submitted by Clare Bush

For teens and tweens. Make your own piece of stained glass art with the help of an instructor from Wentz Stained Glass Studio of Gettysburg, PA. You will go home with a one of a kind sun catcher or pendant. This workshop is guaranteed to be fun and informative. All tools and materials are provided.

Space is limited so sign up now. Register here.

Submitted by Clare Bush

For the first time this year, competitors answered vocabulary questions to test their knowledge of definitions as well as spelling. Vocabulary made up half of the overall score. Despite spelling "terrapin" and "adipose" correctly in the bee's preliminary rounds, Jared did not earn enough points on the computer-based spelling and vocabulary test to advance to the semi-finals.

Jared said he was happy he achieved his goal of spelling both his words correctly. "The competition is much harder than local bees," Jared said, "particularly because of the new need to remember definitions for the vocabulary test." He plans to study hard for next year's spelling bee, for a chance to come back to Scripps again next year.

 By spelling correctly in Rounds 2 and 3, Jared tied for 43rd place and won a $100 VISA gift card. The expenses for Jared's trip, which included transportation, spending money, and lodging at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, were paid by The Frederick NewsPost. Other sponsors of the Frederick County Bee are the Frederick County Libraries and Frederick County Bank.

281 spellers participated in the 86th Scripps National Spelling Bee. The champion speller was Arvind Mahankali, a 13-year-old from Bayside Hills, NY. The winning word was "knaidel," a word for a small mass of leavened dough.

If you'd like to learn about the Scripps National Spelling Bee visit spellingbee.com. There you can find event pictures, the words used in the bee and official results. Congratulations to Jared!

Caroline O'Connell