Schools
Spelling Bee Winners Fly to County Event
The big bee, sponsored by the Howard County Library System, will take place on Friday, March 4.
Students in seven Elkridge schools are buzzing in preparation for the county spelling bee on March 4 at Centennial High School, an event sponsored by Howard County Library.
The winner of the county bee will receive a $1,000 scholarship and take part in the national bee in Washington, D.C., in May.
Students in grades 4 through 8 are eligible for county spelling bee, said Kelli Shimabukuro, community education and partnerships coordinator for Howard County Library.
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This year, 62 students are representing 61 schools. The Elkridge schools include , , , (ELMS), , and . Home-schooled children also are invited to participate.
Earlier this winter, schools held competitions to determine who would represent them at the county level.
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On Feb. 3, ELMS held its schoolwide spelling bee declaring Alina Weiprecht, grade 8, the winner. “I read a lot of books. That's how I won,” Weiprecht said at the event.
On Feb. 4, Elkridge Elementary eliminated all contestants except Trey Hammond, grade 5.
Participants from the other schools are Michelle Bao, grade 5, Bellows Spring; Andrew Lee, grade 5, Deep Run, and Siddarth Rajan, grade 8.
Norbel School is sending Sammy Silverman, grade 4, to the county bee.
Despite where the students originated, they all have the same list to study on myspellit.com, a website to help students prepare for the national bee, said Shimabukuro. The county distributes the list and passwords to each of the schools participating.
Support from parents and schools makes the event worthwhile, said officials. “I want to congratulate all of the students who participated in the spelling bee. It was wonderful to have so many parents and community members in the building supporting our students during the event,” said Principal Gina Stokes of ELMS.
In the past, Elkridge schools have produced winners of the county bee. The last time an Elkridge drone won the bee was in 2009, courtesy of John Nolan, who at the time was a fifth grader at Deep Run Elementary. He's in grade 8 now and Mayfield Woods Middle. He won the schoolwide bee again and represents Mayfield Woods Middle in the county one. Since 2005, at least two schools participated in the county bee.
