Ashley River Creative Arts 5th grader Aarti Anugonda is the 2017 Charleston County School District (CCSD) Spelling Bee Champion. She captured the title in the fifth round of the competition at Burke High School on Thursday, Jan. 19. She was the only one to spell the word “paradigm” correctly in the final round.
Twenty-seven students from 24 different schools participated in the annual CCSD Spelling Bee. 18 of them will advance to the Lowcountry SpellBound! in March. The winner of that tournament will go to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., which begins on May 28.
The following CCSD students advanced to Lowcountry SpellBound!:
• 1st place: Aarti Anugonda, Ashley River Creative Arts Elementary, 5th grade
• 2nd place: Elliott Catoe-Griffis, Charleston County School of the Arts, 7th grade
• 3rd place: Lauren Rabb, Thomas C. Cario Middle, 8th grade
• 4th place: William Wells, Haut Gap Middle – Advanced Studies Magnet , 8th grade
Additional top 18 spellers:
• Melanie Garcia-Sandoval, West Ashley Middle – Advanced Studies Magnet, 7th grade
• Caroline Spann, Buist Academy for Advanced Studies, 5th grade
• Thomas Demetre, Buist Academy for Advanced Studies, 8th grade Rawisara (Bell) Pansap, C. E. Williams Middle, 8th grade
• Ashlyn (Brodie) Mayhew, Drayton Hall Elementary, 5th grade
• John Ryan Ottaviano, Fort Johnson Middle, 6th grade
• Ben Haynes, Harbor View Elementary, 5th grade
• Troy Rauchut, James B. Edwards Elementary, 5th grade
• Cassandra Drollinger, Jerry Zucker Middle School of Science, 7th grade
• Vansh Nagpal, Laing Middle School of Science & Technology, 8th grade
• Auggie Mastrion, Moultrie Middle, 6th grade
• Trenton Washington, Orange Grove Charter Middle, 6th grade
• Dalton Muse, St Andrew’s School of Math and Science, 5th grade
• Emerson Medlin, Stiles Point Elementary, 5th grade
One-hundred forty-nine students from four different counties will participate in Lowcountry SpellBound! sponsored by the Post & Courier on March 9 at Charleston Southern University’s Lightsey Chapel. The competition will begin at 6:30 p.m.
