Top honors go to 8th grader Sydney Pearson for winning the ACS spelling bee held today on stage in the gym. With fellow students, teachers, and proud parents in the audience, Lead Elementary Teacher Gail Alford got the bee underway among the 10 students in grades 1-8 who had advanced to the school-wide bee by winning classroom spelling bees. The bee went 17 rounds before Sydney correctly spelled “specific” and then clinched the victory by correctly spelling the 107th word in the competition — “bemused.” 3rd grader Amelia D’Anna placed second and 2nd grader Nathanael Thompson came in third. Sydney will go on to represent ACS at the South Jersey Spelling Bee on March 11 where she will compete against students from other public and private schools. Pictured above, from left, are: Nathanael Thompson, Amelia D’Anna, and Sydney Pearson. The other students who competed in the spelling bee were: Leila Alobeidy (1st grade); Kalee Tardif (2nd grade); David O’Donnell (3rd grade); Navaeh Johnson (4th grade); Ryleigh Martin (5th grade); Hunter Jorgenson (6th grade); and Elizabeth Alford (7th grade).