Youths to Match Wits in County Spelling Contest

Two-dozen Riverside County kids will test their word power Wednesday in the county’s 38th annual Spelling Bee, whose top finishers will go on to represent the county in state and national contests.

The daylong competition, scheduled to get underway at 9 a.m. in the Moreno Valley Conference and Recreation Center, will feature students from 18 school districts, two college preparatory schools, two private academies, a charter school and the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indian Reservation’s elementary school.

The participants are in grades 4-8 and include Palm Springs Unified School District eighth-grader Jenna-May Ingal, who has competed in the previous four county spelling bees.

The two top elementary school spellers will represent the county at the California State Elementary School Spelling Bee at the San Joaquin County Office of Education in Stockton April 18.

According to county officials, the highest-scoring speller overall will earn a place at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, scheduled the week of May 24 at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

The 2014 county spelling champion, eighth-grader Keerthana Sivathasan from the Corona-Norco Unified School District, finished just shy of the semifinal round in the national competition, officials said.

– City News Service.

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