Districts' Top Spellers Compete

Thursday night, played host to nearly 40 of the best student spellers from Bristol and Warren. Twenty contestants and their alternates gathered at the school for the annual Regional Spelling Bee.

Hosted by district Director of Literacy Mary Almeida, the bee also hosted another guest. NBC 10 News Anchor Barbara Morse Silva was the guest moderator for the bee.

“We are very fortunate to have her here,”Almeida said.

Spellers from grades 4 to 8 competed to become their school’s winner in the prior weeks, bringing them to the regional competition.

“I’ve been an alternate a lot, but this is my first year competing,” said Molly Powers, a seventh-grader. “Getting here is a feeling of accomplishment.”

Contestants sat lined across the auditorium stage in front of the judges, Deborah Kearns, Jane Swift, Lois Kemp and Sue Antonio, district reading specialists. At the edge of the stage sat trophies for the top spellers of the night. “I really wanna win the trophy!” third-time competitor Hope Brazil said before the competition.

Besides a trophy, the top speller wins a seat at the next level of competition, the state spelling bee to be held at Lincoln Middle School March 12.

While the contestants were excited about the prizes, parents and educators are happy to have a fun, parent involved way to encourage good spelling. First Place winner of the bee was Kathryn Anderson, a 6th grader at KMS. Second place winner was 5th grader, Michael Belliveau. Third Place was awarded to Mollie Rigby, a 6th grader at KMS.

“I think spelling is very important in this text generation,” Almeida said.  “It's nice to encourage word power.”

Editor's Note: The names of the winners have been added to this article.