“E-s-t-r-e-p-e.”
With those seven letters in that precise order, Sid Sharma nabbed the championship title at the 2017 Chester County Spelling Bee.
During the event, 51 students from 51 schools spelled their way through 246 words.
As the last student standing, the seventh-grader at Downingtown Middle School earned a trip for two to Washington, D.C., to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May.
Great Valley Middle School’s Aakash Narayan, a former two-time champion, took second place this year. Third-place winners were Ritish Kodali from Kathryn D. Markley Elementary School and Lineesha Kamana from the Marsh Creek Sixth Grade Center.
All 51 students earned their position in the Chester County Bee by winning their individual school’s Spelling Bee, meaning each speller that took the stage was already a champion. Students prepared by studying Scripps-provided word lists and practicing at home.
Sharma took preparations a bit further, looking up definitions from the word lists and having his parents quiz him on both spelling and definitions.
The considerable spelling talent in the room was evident as students spelled through the provided word lists and moved on to additional words, many of which they’d never seen or heard.
“When we got to the words off the list, I had to wing it and just do my best,” Sharma said after 16 rounds of semifinals. “I was extremely nervous and shaking the whole time.”
But the preparation paid off.
“I feel amazed,” he said. “I never expected this would happen. It feels great to win!”
As champion, Sharma also received the Samuel Louis Sugarman Award certificate for a 2017 United States Mint Proof Set award, a one-year subscription to Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online, and a one-year subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
The second-place winner received a Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition, a $50 Amazon gift card and a Bananagrams game. Third-place winners took home a Bananagrams game and a $25 Amazon gift card.
The 2017 Chester County Spelling Bee will be available for viewing on the CCIU website at www.cciu.org/spellingbee in early March.
For more information on the Chester County Spelling Bee, please visit www.cciu.org/spellingbee or contact Barbara Caso at 484-237-5053.
