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.
Neha Mothilal, a fifth-grader from Buchanan Elementary in East Baton Rouge parish in Louisiana, proved that age did not have to determine the outcome of the Louisiana Children's Discovery Center regional bee. She won in 19 rounds when she spelled "tendency."
Olivia Schwab, a sixth-grader from Murphy Junior High in Plainfield, Illinois, will proudly represent her school and her community in the national finals. She correctly spelled "relevant" to win the top prize of a trip to Washington, D.C., provided by sponsor, Grundy/Kendall County Regional Office of Education.
Srikar Chamarthi, an eighth-grader at Abell Junior High, in Midland, Texas, set a new record by winning his third Midland Reporter-Telegram Regional Spelling Bee. He spelled all his words correctly through 19 rounds including the last two, “effervescently” and “tyrannous.”
Eighth-grader Mattie Cull became a two-time champion of The Telegram Spelling Bee, in Newfoundland and Labrador province in Canada, after winning with "induction." The Cloud River Academy student also won in 2016 and worked hard to return this year.
Eighth-grader Amanda Medina credits reading and online spelling quiz games for her victory in the New Hampshire Union Leader spelling bee. The winning word was “caodaism." In addition to her spelling prowess, the Portsmouth Christian Academy student plays violin with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra.