Talia Joels, center, won the bee, while Noor Ali, right, was second place, and Sebastian Hilles Moya, left, was third place
Fifth grader Talia Joels correctly spelled “mystic,” “avian” and “feckless” in the final three rounds of the Bright School spelling bee today and was declared the winner after correctly spelling the championship word “compatriots.” The audience of fellow students and teachers whooped and clapped in celebration.
Talia along with fellow fifth graders Noor Ali (second place) and Sebastian Hilles Moya (third place) will represent Bright School in the next round of the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee against other private school and home school students in the area.
A total of 33 fourth and fifth graders competed in the bee.
The judges were fifth grade teacher Denise Cooper, librarian Elizabeth Oakes and school counselor Nicole Smith. Head of School O.J. Morgan pronounced each word for the spellers. The students were given a 225-word study list in November to help prepare.
The early rounds included words such as wash, bathtub, nose and mouse. The later rounds had more difficult words such as peculiar, clodhopper and gnarled. After eight rounds, there were six students remaining, and then three in the ninth round. The last two rounds helped determine the placing of the three top finishers.