LYNNFIELD — She plays the clarinet and the piano and, oh yeah, she is also the 684-student Lynnfield Middle School spelling champion.
Rachel Lim’s high score on a tough, 40-question spelling test set the stage for her to join other spelling test top scorers at the 35th annual Daily Item regional spelling bee on March 24.
Lim, 13, survived preliminary spelling bee rounds in January at her school to become one of 41 students participating in a follow-up round. No one was more surprised than Lim, a seventh grader, when she emerged victorious from the elimination round.
“I really didn’t expect I would get that far,” she said. “It was a chance to accomplish something.”
She credited older sister, Lauren, with helping her prepare for the middle school spelling competitions and said she looks forward to competing in Lynn and maybe going all the way to Washington, D.C., to take part in the Scripps National Spelling Bee scheduled from May 24 to May 29.
As the lead local media sponsor for the regional bee, the Item relies on co-sponsorship support from Flagship Travel owners and Swampscott residents Joel and Mary Abramson. This is the seventh year the Abramsons have helped support the regional spelling bee.
Lynnfield for years offered students a chance to participate in the spelling bee as an after-school elective run by English teacher Gail Piccinni. Her retirement prompted Middle School English Department director Kathryn Robertson to retool the spelling competition as a school activity that every student taking an English class could initially take part in.
“It gives kids confidence in themselves and it allows them a chance to shine in something they might not think they could do,” Robertson said.
Knowing how to spell is especially important, Robertson said, in an age of mobile technology and spell-check.
“It’s great we have strong spellers,” she said.
