Little River Student Wins Cherokee County Spelling Bee

CANTON, GA -- Little River Elementary School fifth-grader Sharon Pradeep correctly spelled "tortini" and then "chalupa" to win the Cherokee County School District Spelling Bee.

Thirty-one Cherokee County students put their spelling skills to the test Thursday night during the Cherokee County Association of Educators' annual competition, which was held at Cherokee High School in Canton.

Freedom Middle School sixth-grader Braden Flournoy won second place, and Woodstock Middle School sixth-grader Lydia Lord came in third.

All three students will compete in the GAE District Spelling Bee on Feb. 25 in Cobb County. Each elementary and middle school sent its school-level winner to the Cherokee County Spelling Bee in hopes of taking home the title and a chance to advance to the district competition.

Students in grades 4 through 8 are eligible for the competition. The group of spellers went through 12 rounds of words before a champion was declared in the event. More than 115 words were attempted during the competition, including tricky terms like "graffiti," obsequious," "argentine" and "eponym."

The event is sponsored each year by Cherokee County Association of Educators and the Georgia Association of Educators. Jane Bates welcomed the audience and spellers on behalf of GAE; Dr. John Poidevant served as caller of the words; Kathryn Smithyman and Riva Newton were spotters (assisting speller advocates in the event of a question); and Nancy Mohn, Peta Murray and Susan Newman served as judges.

School spelling bee winners who participated in the county bee:

• Arnold Mill ES, Brianna Burke
• Avery ES, Aiden Newman
• Ball Ground ES, Bailey Hamilton
• Bascomb ES, Nickolas Woodall
• Boston ES, Jack Kennard
• Canton ES, Zach Prien
• Carmel ES, Ian Walstead
• Clark Creek ES, Anvita Rautray
• Clayton ES, Evan Cato
• Creekland MS, Victoria Momeh
• Dean Rusk MS, Cristen Johnson
• E.T. Booth MS, Caidan Landry
• Free Home ES, Laura Hand
• Freedom MS, Braden Flournoy
• Hasty ES, Joshua Albright
• Hickory Flat ES, Rylie Gramling
• Holly Springs ES, Desiray Nared
• Indian Knoll ES, Aidan Christian
• Johnston ES, Camryn DiSciullo
• Knox ES, Rylan Richardson
• Liberty ES, Madison Swann
• Little River ES, Sharon Pradeep
• Macedonia ES, Jack Burns
• Mill Creek MS, Zander Burden
• Mountain Road ES, Ayari Lopez
• Oak Grove ES, Mandy Wood
• R.M. Moore ES, Bella Stills
• Sixes ES, Taylor King
• Teasley MS, Adriana Collins
• Woodstock ES, Evan Darden
• Woodstock MS, Lydia Lord

Photo 1: CCSD Spelling Bee champs are from left, Sharon Pradeep, first place; Braden Flournoy, second place; and Lydia Lord, third place. All three will advance to the GAE District Bee in Cobb County on Feb. 25.

Photo 2: First place winner Sharon Pradeep of Little River ES looks to the judges for a ruling on her last word.

Photo 3: Second place winner Braden Flournoy of Freedom MS spells a word in the competition.

Photo 4: Third place winner Lydia Lord of Woodstock MS waits to hear her next word from the announcer.

Photo 5: The 31 school finalists from all CCSD elementary and middle schools.

Photo credits: Cherokee County School District