Members of the ACS Spelling Team excelled and made their mark at a March 23 South Jersey-Philadelphia spelling bee for 1st to 8th grade students sponsored by the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). 8th grader Garrett Martin came in 2nd place overall and 5th grader Joey Kinch placed 5th. Seventeen of the twenty-seven students on the ACS team received ribbons for winning 1st to 4th place and six ACS students won 1st place in their grade-level bees.

ACS and two other schools competed in the ACSI bee — The City School in Philadelphia, which hosted the Bee, and the New Jersey United Christian Academy in Cream Ridge.

The Bee got underway with students first competing in their grade level. Seven students in the 1st-4th grades won 1st to 4th place in their grade-level bees — Jordan Vielma (1st place-1st grade), Ellie Campbell (3rd place-1st grade), Jack Sawyer (4th place-1st grade), Molly Klinetob (4th place-2nd grade),  Ellie Sellers (1st place-3rd grade), Rachael Eachus (2nd place-3rd grade), Caitlin Doucett (1st place-4th grade), Eric Protesto (3rd place-4th grade), and Hadley Basso (4th place-4th grade).

Eight ACS students in the 5th-8th grades placed 1st through 4th in their grade-level bees — Luke Sabulao (1st place-5th grade), Joey Kinch (2nd place-5th grade), Brody Panetta (3rd place-6th grade), Gaebriel Hahn-Chaney (4th place-6th grade), Antonino Miranda (1st place-7th grade), Matthew Coates (2nd place-7th grade), Garrett Martin (1st place-8th grade), and Caedyn Hahn-Chaney (2nd place-8th grade). These students then advanced to compete in a Spell-Off to determine the overall top spellers.

Thank you to the parent and staff volunteers who assisted at the Bee — Despina Bara-Protesto, Marques Chaney, Joe Coates, Rhapsody Hahn-Chaney, Walter Klinetob, Spelling Team Coach Jessica Martin, Clint Sawyer, Meredith Sellers, and Lisa Smith.