Fifth-grader Delaney Nash from Union Chapel Elementary in Kansas City, Missouri, is ready for a whirlwind adventure to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. She won the Park Hill School District spelling bee. The district invites students to take a computerized spelling test. The top 60 advanced to the district spelling bee, and Delaney spelled her way to the top.
After a marathon battle of four hours and 22 rounds, Anoushka Upadhye, an eighth-grader from Stone Hill Middle School in Ashburn, Virginia, was crowned champion of the Loudoun County spelling bee. She was runner-up last year, so she committed herself to winning it all this year. Her championship word was “cinematheque.”
Hephzibah Sujoe, a sixth-grader from Bethesda Christian School in Fort Worth, Texas, is following in her brother's footsteps. She correctly spelled "tenebrism" in the 16th round to earn a trip to D.C. in the College of Education at Texas Christian University regional bee. Ansun Sujoe was a co-champion of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2014.
After being runner-up in last year's Calvert County Spelling Bee in Maryland, Sadie Storm was determined to work diligently for another shot at the title. Her hard work paid off as the eighth-grader from Plum Point Middle School won this time and now advances to compete in the national finals in Washington, D.C. Sadie is in the center of the photo.
Aisha Randhawa made it three in a row with her victory at the Riverside County Spelling Bee. The seventh-grader at Auburndale Intermediate School in Corona correctly spelled “bulbul” in round 29 of a three-hour-plus bee. She is only the third person in the 41-year history of the local program to win the event three times. The sponsor is The Press-Enterprise.
For Addison Champion, her name is also her title: she's the champ of the Cleveland County spelling bee in Shelby, North Carolina. The Springmore Elementary School fourth-grader competed for the first time this year, and beat out 21 fellow competitors with the word “ductile.” The Shelby Star and Newspapers in Education sponsor the program.
Joel Chandler's championship word, "relentless," was rather appropriate for his performance in the Cloverleaf Spelling Competition in St. Joseph, Michigan. The eighth-grader at Grace Christian School said being a visual learner helped him to prepare for the final competition involving 47 other spellers. The Herald Palladium is the sponsor and coordinator of the two-county regional spelling bee.
Photo credit: Tony Wittkowski, The Herald Palladium
Ava Becken, an eighth-grader from Northfield Public Schools in Northfield, Minnesota, will represent 37 districts in her state after winning her final local bee by correctly spelling "triturate." The competition and program is sponsored by the Southeast Service Cooperative.
Surabi Shanmugam first tackled the 100 question spelling and vocabulary test in the WITF Central Pennsylvania Spelling Bee. After qualifying for the onstage spelling, the seventh-grader from Eagle View Middle School went 21 rounds with 33 fellow spellers to win on "abseil." In addition to spelling, she enjoys art, music, science and reading.
Isabel Messina stared down her word, "fomorian,” a mythical Irish monster, and slayed it to win the Anne Arundel County Public Schools spelling bee in Annapolis, Maryland. The eighth-grader from Wiley H. Bates Middle School competed against 24 other spellers in the 30th annual competition, a partnership of the schools and the 21st Century Education Foundation.