Spelling Bee school champions will battle at the 37th Daily Item Regional Spelling Bee for a chance to compete at the national level in Washington, D.C., this May. Co-sponsored by The Daily Item and Joel and Mary Abramson, Tuesday night’s spelling competition will take place at the Lynn Auditorium at 5 p.m. and is open to the public.
Judges include Item contributor and former editor Steve Krause, along with two faculty members from the North Shore Community College Early Childhood Education program: Education & Care Partnership Director Kathy Leonard Gallo and adjunct instructor Caryn Olson.
Walter Stone, North Shore Community College’s Dean of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) will be returning as the pronouncer.
Thirty-three students from local communities will compete to move on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington.
Joel Abramson will welcome the competitors at 5 p.m., followed by remarks from Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson and acting Superintendent of Schools Debra Ruggiero. The competition will begin at approximately 5:15 p.m.
The winner of the regional spelling bee will receive a $100 Amazon gift card; round-trip airfare to Washington; week-long hotel accommodations at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Forest Heights, Md.; and spending money for the winner and chaperone, all paid for by the generosity of the Abramsons.
Additionally, the winner will receive a Britannica Online Premium one-year subscription; The Samuel Louis Sugarman Award; a Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online one-year subscription; and a Hexco three-month subscription to National Words Stinger, courtesy of The Daily Item.
The second- and third-place winners will also earn prizes. All participants will receive a $25 Amazon gift card and a gift bag.
Additional sponsors of the event include the City of Lynn and Olde Tyme Italian Restaurant. Mary Abramson, Laurie Kennedy, City Councilor Dianna Chakoutis, Zachary Conti, Paula Villacreses, and Susan Reddy have generously volunteered their time for the event.
Students competing in tonight’s regional spelling bee are between grades three and eight. To qualify, they first had to win their school spelling bee. Then, each school champion was given a 50-word online exam on March 1, which consisted of 25 spelling words and 25 vocabulary words. The top scorers of the online round advanced. Students who will be participating in the event include:
Aaditya Akare, Westford
Thomas Ayers, Danvers
Olivia Bordonaro, Haverhill
Meghan Donnelly, Walpole
Liam Durkin, Bolton
Nate Felix, Dedham
Natania Fernandez, Tyngsboro
Elias Francis, Methuen
Elise Fujawa, Medfield
Georgiana Green, Brookline
Jackson Hersom, North Andover
Kiara Jin, Franklin
Eleanor Jones, Rockport
Virat Kaukuntla, Norwood
Sonali Koo, Dover
Kemy Lorime, Lynn
Emma MacLeod, Mattapoisett
Vasudha Madhusudhan, Shrewsbury
Divaansh Maruboyina, Shrewsbury
Theodore McMahon, Duxbury
Raquildis Mercado, Haverhill
Prabhsimar Pabla, Lynnfield
Joseph Peng, Shrewsbury
Jamie Redfern, Amesbury
Stone Robinson, Swampscott
Christian Rodriguez, Lynn
Paige Sherman, Danvers
Ella Tandilyan, Wilmington
Adarsh Venkannagari, Acton
Akshay Venkataraman, Dover
Logan Wild, Marblehead
Kristopher Young, Norwell
Anna Zhang, Stow
