Cathedral City Student Wins County Spelling Bee With 'Agama'

A Cathedral City eighth-grader won the Riverside County Spelling Bee Wednesday and will move on to compete in the state and national spelling bees later this spring, school district officials said.

Jenna-May Ingal, a student at James Workman Middle School, won the county bee in the 39th round by correctly spelling the word “agama,” according to Palm Springs Unified School District spokeswoman Joan L. Boiko.

Jenna-May, who won the PSUSD spelling bee in each of the past five years, placed third in last year’s county bee, Boiko said.

Two dozen Riverside County youngsters tested their word power in the county’s 38th annual Spelling Bee at the Moreno Valley Conference and Recreation Center. The students were 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 two top elementary school spellers -- Jenna-May and second-place finisher Julian Gonzalez, a sixth-grader from Western Center Academy in Hemet -- will represent the county at the California State Elementary School Spelling Bee at the San Joaquin County Office of Education in Stockton on April 18.

Jenna-May has also won a slot to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, to be held the week of May 24 at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

— City News Service.

(Image via Shutterstock)