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County Spelling Bee Contestants Announced

About Blog Post Mar 2, 2017 by Pressroom

County Spelling Bee Contestants Announced

March 11 SCLSNJ Bee Spectacular will include 49 Somerset County students

(Somerset County, NJ: March 2, 2017) Somerset County Library System of New Jersey will host the Second Annual SCLSNJ Bee Spectacular County Spelling Bee, a county-wide spelling bee for children grades 3-8, Saturday, March 11 at 2 p.m. at Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School, located at 14 Vogt Drive in Bridgewater. All are welcome to attend. Local schools held their own spelling bees through January. The first and second place winners will compete in SCLSNJ’s Bee Spectacular County Spelling Bee. The winner will be eligible to represent Somerset County at the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 28 in the Washington, D.C. area. SCLSNJ is an official sponsor of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. SCLSNJ is delighted to announce the following students who will be participating in the second annual SCLSNJ Bee Spectacular (information appears as placard number for spelling bee, child’s first name, child’s last name, child’s grade, school child attends, hometown):
  1. Tejas Somasekar, Grade 3, Adamsville Elementary School, Bridgewater
  2. Aditya Kulkarni, Grade 3, Adamsville Elementary School, Bridgewater
  3. Rhea Patel, Grade 4, Bayberry School, Watchung
  4. Isabella Thomas, Grade 4, Bayberry School, Watchung
  5. Jeffrey Pravin, Grade 3, Bradley Gardens Elementary School, Bridgewater
  6. Matthew Atienza, Grade 3, Bradley Gardens Elementary School, Bridgewater
  7. Andrew DeAngelis, Grade 6, Branchburg Central Middle School, Branchburg
  8. Rishi Purohit, Grade 6, Branchburg Central Middle School, Branchburg
  9. Aarsha Shah, Grade 7, Bridgewater-Raritan Regional Middle School, Bridgewater
  10. Matthew Quispe, Grade 8, Bridgewater-Raritan Regional Middle School, Bridgewater
  11. Susan Lee, Grade 8, homeschool, Bedminster
  12. Andie Zhou, Grade 6, homeschool, Somerset
  13. Anush Polamraju, Grade 6, Cedar Hill Preparatory School, Somerset
  14. Yuvna Musuku, Grade 6, Cedar Hill Preparatory School, Somerset
  15. Sanjana Bandi, Grade 6, Central Jersey College Preparatory Charter School, North Brunswick
  16. Matthew DaGraca, Grade 3, Crim Elementary School, Bridgewater
  17. Noah John, Grade 3, Crim Elementary School, Bridgewater
  18. Maryann Opida, Grade 6, Eisenhower Intermediate School, Raritan
  19. Samrita Ravinder, Grade 6, Eisenhower Intermediate School, Raritan
  20. Jacob Neptune, Grade 7, Far Hills Country Day School, Far Hills
  21. Matthew Kolakowski, Grade 6, Far Hills Country Day School, Bridgewater
  22. Dhruvi Mehta, Grade 7, Franklin Middle School, Princeton
  23. Franklin Lu, Grade 7, Franklin Middle School, Somerset
  24. Anmol Bhatia, Grade 6, Green Brook Middle School, Green Brook
  25. Talia Hooke, Grade 8, Green Brook Middle School, Green Brook
  26. Ronak Hunashimarad, Grade 3, Hamilton Elementary School, Bridgewater
  27. Hriday Narang, Grade 3, Hamilton Elementary School, Bridgewater
  28. Mithil Mouli, Grade 5, Hillside Intermediate School, Bridgewater
  29. Jiya Mody, Grade 6, Hillside Intermediate School, Martinsville
  30. Tara Khosla, Grade 6, Immaculate Conception School, Hillsborough
  31. Andre Rivera, Grade 5, Immaculate Conception School, Bridgewater
  32. Rohan Athreya, Grade 6, Montgomery Lower Middle School, Belle Mead
  33. Isha Korgaonkar, Grade 5, Montgomery Lower Middle School, Princeton
  34. Sanjana Venkatesh, Grade 7, Montgomery Upper Middle School, Belle Mead
  35. Mia Kung, Grade 8, Montgomery Upper Middle School, Skillman
  36. Sari Estomata, Grade 6, School Of Saint Elizabeth, Bound Brook
  37. Katie Lane, Grade 5, School Of Saint Elizabeth, Basking Ridge
  38. Vaishvik Vidavalapati, Grade 4, Thomas Edison Energysmart Charter School, Somerset
  39. Dharani Moorthy, Grade 6, Thomas Edison Energysmart Charter School, Somerset
  40. Marshall White, Grade 8, Valley View School, Watchung
  41. Wesley Tseng, Grade 8, Valley View School, Watchung
  42. Mihir Joseph, Grade 4, Van Holten Elementary School, Bridgewater
  43. Briana Popescu, Grade 4, Van Holten Elementary School, Bridgewater
  44. Andrew Shi, Grade 7, Warren Middle School, Warren
  45. Zoe Wang, Grade 7, Warren Middle School, Warren
  46. Ria Chandola, Grade 4, Woods Road Elementary School, Hillsborough
  47. Sara Newalkar, Grade 4, Woods Road Elementary School, Hillsborough
  48. Vera Goliyad, Grade 4, Irene E. Feldkirchner Elementary School, Green Brook
  49. TingTing Luo, Grade 3, Irene E. Feldkirchner Elementary School, Green Brook
To help the community get to know some of Somerset County’s top spellers, they shared their favorite words:
  • Anush Polamraju: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (which is sometimes cited as one of the longest words in the English language);
  • Tejas Somasekar and Aditya Kulkarni: interminableness;
  • Susan Lee: tintinnabulation;
  • Mihir Joseph: supererogation;
  • Matthew Kolakowski and Anmol Bhatia: prestidigitation;
  • Sara Newalkar: kerfuffle; and
  • Zoe Wang: eleemosynary.
"We have a variety of resources that can help students prepare for the Spelling Bee as well as their academics in general,” said Jessica Trujillo, youth services manager for SCLSNJ. “For example, the Lumos Test Prep database has resources on developing a student's study and memory skills in addition to the PARCC practice tests. All you need is your SCLSNJ library card number to access it from home or you can use one of our computers in the library." “I remember spelling being something learned by rote, and not very fun,” said Beth Bouwman, SCLSNJ youth services librarian and SCLSNJ Bee Spectacular co-coordinator. “That’s why I love telling our patrons about ‘Feed Me Words’ by Kris Hirschmann. It uses illustrations, short stories, puzzles, and other interactive elements to help teach the reasons that we spell things different ways. Each mini lesson takes just two pages, making it the perfect way to fit a little spelling into each day. There are also ‘Spelling Bee Fun Facts’ throughout the book, as well as tips for spelling competitions. Although any age could find something to appreciate about this book, I would recommend it especially for children in grades 3-5.” Great news for our patrons: SCLSNJ will be holding a #FreeBookFriday promotion on the Library System’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/SCLSNJ) on Friday, March 3 and two lucky participants will receive copies of “Feed Me Words” by Kris Hirschmann. Emcee for the evening will be Michael Kerwin, president of Somerset County Business Partnership. Pronouncer will be Brian K. Auger, SCLSNJ county library administrator. Judges for the evening will be:
  • Head Judge: Patricia Walsh, Somerset County Freehold member
  • Dictionary Judge: Corrine Fender, SCLSNJ Library Commission member
  • Rounds & Records Judge: Chris Corsini, SCLSNJ Library Commission chairman
  • Appeals Judge: Elias Ezra, Bridgewater Bound Brook Rotary president
Special thanks to SCLSNJ’s 2017 Bee Spectacular sponsors: Carol's Creative Chocolatez of Somerville; Arcaro Award Gallery, Inc. of Raritan; Somerset County Vocational & Technical High School of Bridgewater; Rotary Club of Branchburg; Rotary Club of Bridgewater/Bound Brook; Rotary Club of Montgomery/Rocky Hill; the Friends of the Bridgewater Library; and the Friends of the Mary Jacobs Memorial Library. For more information about SCLSNJ’s Bee Spectacular, contact spellingbee@sclibnj.org or at 908-801-6465. About Somerset County Library System of New Jersey Somerset County Library System of New Jersey (SCLSNJ) partners with you to connect, to explore, to share and to discover. Together we enrich lives, expand knowledge and strengthen communities. SCLSNJ branches can be found in Bridgewater, Bound Brook, Hillsborough, Manville, North Plainfield, Peapack & Gladstone, Rocky Hill at Mary Jacobs Memorial Library, Somerville, Warren Township and Watchung. Additionally, there are two SCLSNJ reading stations in Branchburg and Washington Valley. Visit SCLSNJ.org for further information about library services offered at SCLSNJ.

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