Merced County’s top spelling savants are ready to put their skills to the test at the state championship, following the recent Spelling Bee at the Merced County Office of Education Downtown Center.
The tournament’s first and second place spellers will advance to the California State Spelling Bee, held at Great Wolf Lodge in Manteca this spring, according to an MCOE news release.
Akshara Thummala from Merced Scholars Charter School earned first place in the elementary competition by spelling the word “surreptitious” correctly, according to the release.
Plus, Thummala completed the competition without misspelling a single word.
Danika Vou from Grasslands Elementary School finished in second and Marie Smith from Juniper Elementary School finished third place.
For the junior high competition, Aanashra Afrooz from Cruickshank Middle School earned first place by spelling the word “paduasoy” correctly. Afrooz earned second place in the junior high competition last year.
Zoe O’Donnell from Hoover Middle School earned second place and Aliyah Bebero from Cruickshank Middle School earned third.
The event was sponsored by Educational Employees Credit Union, and the annual written competition hosted more than 100 elementary and junior high spellers from schools countywide.
the MCOE Downtown Center on Dec. 9. Photo credit: Merced County Office of Education.