ITEM FILE PHOTO
Mitchell Robson competes in the Daily Item Spelling Bee at Lynn City Hall. Robson will be a participant in this year’s event.
BY BRIDGET TURCOTTE
LYNN — The contestants are set for The Daily Item’s 31st Annual Regional Spelling Bee, which will be held at Lynn City Hall Auditorium Friday at 6:15 p.m.
Students at 44 local schools competed in a round of spelling contests to determine which students would qualify to represent their school in the regional event. The Item’s regional winner will compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. in May.
The bee is sponsored by Mary and Joel Abramson of Flagship Travel in Marblehead. The Abramsons will send the winner to the national spelling bee, all expenses paid.
Candidates for The Item’s bee consist of champions from local schools, ranging from third- to eighth-graders.
There are 19 spelling bee champions from Lynn schools: Jasmin Jimenez Carrion, fourth-grader at Drewicz Elementary School; Jonathan Baker, sixth-grader at Breed Middle School; Israel Ovalles, fifth-grader at Brickett Elementary School; Victoria Samuel, fifth-grader at Capt. William Shoemaker Elementary School; Yareliz Coriano, fifth-grader at Cobbet Elementary School; Juridia DeLeon, fifth-grader at E.J. Harrington Elementary School; Rebekah Soetan, third-grader at Edward Sisson Elementary School; Sasha Soy, fifth-grader at Ingalls Elementary School; Victoria Kadiri, eighth-grader at KIPP Academy; Dylan DeSisto, fifth-grader at Julia F. Callahan School; Daileny Torres, fifth-grader at Lincoln-Thomson Elementary School; Brady Bullock, fifth-grader at Lynn Woods Elementary School; Susie Stutz, sixth-grader at North Shore Christian School; Joseph Severe, eighth-grader at Pickering Middle School; Natalie-Mai, fifth-grader at Robert L. Ford Elementary School; Joysmer Minaya, fifth-grader at Sewell-Anderson Elementary School; Celine Huynh, fifth-grader at St. Pius V School; Chiara Tazoa, seventh-grader at Thurgood Marshall Middle School; and Paw Htoo, fourth-grader at William P. Connery Elementary School.
Three school spelling bee champions hail from Swampscott: Daniel Miretsky, third-grader at Clarke Elementary School; Andrew Tierney, fourth-grader at Hadley Elementary School; and Luca Croft, fourth-grader at Stanley School.
Marblehead’s winners are: Maia Newburg, seventh-grader at Marblehead Community Charter Public School; Ryan Grohe, eighth-grader at Marblehead Veterans Middle School; and Ella Kramer, sixth-grader at the Village School.
There are six top spellers in Revere: Teo Hood, fifth-grader at Paul Revere Innovation School; Samy Kardady, fifth-grader at Garfield Elementary School; John Barry, third-grader at Beachmont Elementary School, Aamna Umar, fifth-grader at Lincoln Elementary School; Sami El Asri, fifth-grader at Hill Elementary School; and Walid Ichcho, fifth-grader at Whelan Elementary School.
Other qualifying spelling bee champions include: Torin Anderson, fifth-grader at Johnson School in Nahant; Connor Gagne, fifth-grader at Douglas Waybright School in Saugus; Elinor Davenport, fourth-grader at Covenant Christian School in Peabody; and Sofia Valencia, sixth-grader at Higgins Middle School in Peabody.
Nine other spellers from North Shore communities will also compete: Luis Placido, eighth-grader at Bellesini Academy (Lawrence); Celeste Bucci, eighth-grader at Holten-Richmond Middle School (Danvers); Clara Diniz, seventh-grader at Rockport Middle School (Rockport); Caroline Clarke, sixth-grader at Sacred Heart School (Haverhill); Mitchell Robson, eighth-grader at St. John’s Prep (Danvers); Ali Hounain, eighth-grader at Salemwood School (Malden); William Yue, sixth-grader at The Pike School (Andover); Beckett Catron, seventh-grader at Dr. Paul Nettle School (Haverhill); and Ashrita Gandhari, third-grader at St. Michael School (North Andover).
The last three spellers standing will each receive an award. The first-place winner will receive round-trip plane fare to Washington, D.C. to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Bee Week accommodations at the Gaylord Resort and Convention Center and spending money for a family chaperone.
The first-place winner will also be awarded with a Merriam-Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, a one-year subscription to Britannica Online Premium, a $100 Barnes & Noble gift card and the Samuel Louis Sugarman Award — a 2016 United States Mint Proof Set.
The second-place winner will be awarded with a $50 Barnes & Noble gift card and the third-place winner will receive a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card. The remaining participants will each receive a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card. The gift certificates are provided by Flagship Travel.
Judges for the event will include: Karen Hynick, vice president of academic affairs at North Shore Community College; Meghann Price, reading teacher at Thurgood Marshall Middle School; and Kathleen Shaughnessy of KIPP Academy in Lynn.
Lynn English High School Social Studies Advanced Placement teacher William McGuiness will be the pronouncer for the event.
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.
