QUICK TAKE

"DANCING WITH THE STARS" CHAMPION SHAWN JOHNSON TO APPEAR ON "THE 2009 SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE"

"DWTS" Champ's Former Teacher, Mary Brooks, Is Head Judge

It's positively s-e-r-e-n-d-i-p-i-t-o-u-s! Mary Brooks, the head judge for "The 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee," was a junior high school teacher for Shawn Johnson, newly-minted winner of "Dancing with the Stars" and Olympic gymnast. This Thursday, May 28, the former student will visit this year's Bee in Washington, DC and join Bee host Tom Bergeron at the broadcast desk at some point during the competition on ABC (8:00-10:00 p.m., ET). Johnson will also be the keynote speaker at the Awards Banquet for the spellers to be held the following night.

About 293 champion spellers, ranging in age from 9 to 15, will be competing this year for the National Spelling Bee Championship. Spellers participating in the national competition qualify by winning locally sponsored spelling bees in their home communities. The Bee, which is held each year in Washington DC, features top spellers from across the U.S. as well as competitors from Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Canada, New Zealand, Ghana, South Korea, students from U.S. Defense and State Department schools in Europe and students from American and international schools in China. Real-time results for all segments of competition are provided via the Internet at the Bee's official website, www.spellingbee.com.

"The 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee" is a production of ESPN, in association with ABC Entertainment. The executive producer is Jed Drake and the director is Doug Holmes. The producer is David Winner and the coordinating producer is Tim Weinkauf.

The program will be broadcast in HDTV with stereo sound. This program carries a TV-PG parental guideline. (CLOSED CAPTIONED)