A Hoover Middle School student will soon be heading to Washington D.C. to represent Merced County among the nation’s top wordsmiths.
Lawrence Ye took home first place in the Scripps Regional Spelling competition on March 15, according to a news release from Merced County Office of Education.
Ye also earned first place in the Merced County written spelling competition in December. Next, Ye will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May.
Aanashra Afrooz from Cruickshank Middle School earned second place in the regional spelling competition.
According to the release, the regional competition at the UC Merced Lakireddy Auditorium included more than 20 students from seven school districts.
Those districts included Atwater Elementary, Los Banos Unified, Merced City, Merced River, Connecting Waters Charter, St. Paul Lutheran and Stone Ridge Christian.
Paul Loeffler was the pronouncer for the competition, bringing many years of experience as the National Competition’s analyst to the renewed Merced County event. Loeffler, who was also a Merced County Scripps Regional Champion, finished in the top 13 at the 1990 Scripps National Spelling Bee, the release said.
Judges included Merced County Office of Education Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Laura Andrews, who also served as the word moderator for the Merced County Written Bee in December; and Merced County High School student Rishabh Saha, who finished in the top seven at last year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Sponsor Partners include UC Merced Office of Enrollment Management and Merced School Employees Federal Credit Union.
