Local Marlton Spelling Bee Finalist Wins District Spelling Bee

Congratulations to Marlton Van Zant School fourth grader and Marlton Woman's Club bee second place finisher RYAN STEELE, who skillfully advanced through more than 34 rounds of competition at the NJSFWC Garden District Spelling Bee on February 26, to win the competition. Ryan was joined in the top three by Mia Trapani (Second Place, Women's Club of Medford) and Samanyu Sriharsha (Third Place, Women's Club of Medford). Each of these students will advance to the New Jersey State Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 18 representing the Garden District.

GFWC women's clubs across New Jersey and the country are holding similar spelling bees, one of the hallmark events of the General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC) and New Jersey State Federation of Women's Clubs (NJSFWC).

The NJSFWC Garden District event was held at The Haddon Fortnightly in Haddonfield.

1st Place: Ryan Steele (Marlton Woman's Club finalist)
2nd Place: Mia Trapani (Women's Club of Medford finalist)
3rd Place: Samanyu Sriharsha (Women's Club of Medford finalist)

These three students earned a trip to the NJSFWC Garden District Spelling Bee by placing in the top three of their women's club's local spelling bee and advanced to the last rounds of the competition with adroit spelling. Steele rebounded from a misspelled word by both of the last two students (he and Trapani), to correctly spell the subsequent final word and take the title.

Want even more stress for these youngsters? An unforseen complication at the competition was the heat malfunctioning in the historic building. Despite frigid temperatures and competing in coats and gloves for the majority of the contest, the students persevered, concentrated and successfully spelled the increasingly difficult vocabulary words. Well done!