Congratulations to 5th grader Madelyn Petrinec for winning our school Spelling Bee on February 16, placing first among 19 students from the 1st to 8th grades after 2 hours and 27 rounds of competition. Maddie, who also won last year’s school Spelling Bee, will move on to represent ACS at the Scripps South Jersey Regional Spelling Bee in Camden on Saturday, March 25.

Coming in second place was 1st grader Zackary Alobeidy. 6th grader Brody Panetta placed third, staying in the Bee through the first 19 rounds. Zackary and Maddie then went head to head for another 7 rounds before Zackary misspelled “thurible” and Madelyn correctly spelled “nares” and then “eurythmics,” marking the 213th word in the competition.

Parents, teachers, and students were on hand in the gym to watch the bee and applaud between rounds. The students who competed in the bee had either won or placed runner up in classroom bees held in January. 6th grader Gaebriel Hahn-Chaney and 8th grader Caedyn Hahn-Chaney, who are brothers, represented their classes well and finished in 4th and 5th place, respectively.

Under the guidance of Spelling Bee coach Jessica Martin, the students had a month to prepare for the all-school bee by studying a list of 450 words provided by the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Martin was also the pronouncer for the Bee. “Since this will be Maddie’s second time representing ACS at the regional bee, I am optimistic that she will draw upon her prior experience and will do well in this upcoming competition,” Martin said.

The top 19 spellers who competed in the Bee, by grade level, were: 1st Grade: Zackary Alobeidy, Ellie Campbell; 2nd Grade: Chase Hemberger, Carson Myers, Janessa Obot; 3rd Grade: Chloe Capito, Amelia Crespo, Rachael Eachus; 4th Grade: Caitlin Doucett, Lindsay Eachus; 5th Grade: Giovanna (Bo) Altier, Tamara Kulov, Maddie Petrinec; 6th Grade: Eva Dimashi, Gaebriel Hahn-Chaney, and Brody Panetta; 7th Grade: Grace Lushina and Nino Miranda; and 8th Grade: Caedyn Hahn-Chaney.