The Manteca Unified District-wide Spelling Bee is 6:30 tonight inside the Lathrop High Theater building.

The top spellers in the grades 4-6 or the Elementary Division and 7-8 Junior Division will battle it out for a chance to advance to the San Joaquin County event in December.

The Lathrop High is located at 647 Spartan Way.

The MUSD event will once again feature Shasta Elementary School Principal Audrey (Greene) Parker as the Mistress of Ceremony and Joseph Widmer Principal Kathy Brown Snyder as the Spell Master.

The San Joaquin County Office of Education Spelling Bee will begin on Dec. 3 with the elimination round for 4-6 grades.

The finals for both the Elementary and Junior divisions are Dec. 5 in the Wentworth Education Center, Burwood Auditorium, 2707 Transworld Dr. Stockton.

The winner and runner-up from both divisions of the county competition will represent SJC at the State Spelling Bee Championships in the spring.