Amherst resident delivers keynote speech at National Spelling Bee

Craig R. Bucki, a former Scripps National Spelling Bee competitor, speaks during the 2007 awards ceremony in Washington D.C.

Amherst resident Craig R. Bucki delivered the keynote address at the June 1 awards banquet honoring the 286 contestants in the 80th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

The championship rounds were held May 30-31.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Yale University and a graduate of Columbia University School of Law, Bucki competed in the National Spelling Bee as the representative of the Buffalo News in 1995 and 1996.

Each year since 2001, he has fielded press inquiries during the week of the competition as a member of the Spelling Bee staff. This year marked the second time in the past three years that the organization has chosen Bucki to speak at the awards banquet. More than 1,000 members of the media, spellers, and their families attended this year's event in the Independence Ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

"I enjoyed traveling to Washington, D.C., to serve once again on the staff of the Scripps National Spelling Bee," Bucki said. "In particular, I thank the Bee for honoring me with the opportunity to speak at the awards banquet about my prior experience in competitive spelling and how it influenced my path to a career in the law."

Admitted to the bar in the State of New York in February, Bucki is an attorney specializing in civil litigation at the Buffalo law firm of Phillips Lytle LLP.

"I was excited to address the Awards Banquet at the Scripps National Spelling Bee not merely as a former contestant, but as a proud representative of Western New York at a nationally recognized academic competition," he said.