Harrison Sixth-Grader Wins 2019 County Spelling Bee
Harrison Sixth-Grader Wins 2019 County Spelling Bee
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Harrison Sixth-Grader Wins 2019 County Spelling BeeMILFORD – This year’s Kosciusko County Spelling Bee was anything but a “debacle” for Ishita Pandey.
In the 57th round Monday night at Milford School, the Harrison Elementary School sixth-grader correctly spelled “debacle” to become the overall and the fifth- and sixth-grade spelling bee champion.
Pandey, 10, went head to head against eventual spelling bee overall runnerup and seventh- and eighth-grade winner Var Bobba, 11, for the final nine rounds before Bobba misspelled “prosciutto” as “proscuitto.” Pandey was then given the championship word, which she spelled correctly.
Pandey will compete with winners from 14 other northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio counties at the Regional Spelling Bee at 10 a.m. March 9 at PFW’s Rhinehart Music Center Recital Hall, according to the Journal Gazette. The winner of the regional will represent the Journal Gazette at the 92nd Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., in May.
This was the first year that the Kosciusko County Spelling Bee was combined into one contest. In the past, the fifth- and sixth-graders would have a spelling bee to determine a winner; then the seventh- and eighth-graders would compete; and then winners of each division would have a spell-off. Last night all the students competed against each other, with the grade division winners and overall winner determined at the end.
As the winners of their grade division spelling bees, Pandey and Bobba will receive a $2,500 Richard R. Long Scholarship. The scholarship is given in recognition of Long’s many years of service to the children, teachers and parents of North Webster School and in honor of his work for the International Palace of Sports, now known as the Shoop Sports and Youth Foundation.
Bobba, an Edgewood Middle School seventh-grader, was the only one of three middle school students to last beyond the fourth round.
The son of Aravinda and Kalpana, of Warsaw, he said he studied at least 1½ hours every day since he received his county spelling bee list.
Pandey, the daughter of Rashmi and Vinay, Warsaw, said she studied a little bit more, which may have helped her in the end.
“I studied two hours a day,” she said, starting when she got the county list the day after Harrison’s spelling bee.
She also was one of 17 fifth- and sixth-graders in Monday night’s spelling bee. Seven went out in the first round, three in round two and one more in round three.
Three more were knocked out over the next few rounds before only four were left: Bobba, Pandey, Lincoln Elementary’s Titiksha Gorhe and Pierceton Elementary’s Cale Bennett.
Bennett was the county spelling bee runnerup in 2018 as a fifth-grader. He hung in there for over a dozen more rounds before misspelling “trowel.”
Gorhe lasted about two dozen more rounds before misspelling “charlatan” as “charlotin.”
Other students who made it to the 2019 county spelling bee included Cassie Rich, Akron Elementary; Izamaya Velazquez, Claypool; Melayna Howett, Eisenhower; Christopher Banghart, Jefferson; Jenet Leyva Solis, Leesburg; Cole Koontz, Madison; Harvey Hayes, Mentone; Joseph Harper, Milford; Ashley Wake, North Webster; Jackson Polk, Sacred Heart; Mia Hodgson, Syracuse; Kada Cornett, Tippecanoe Valley Middle School; Luke Smith, Warsaw Christian; Mark Mills, Washington; Grace Ganser, Lakeview Middle School; and Emma Jackson, Milford.
Pronouncer was Dr. Lauren Rich, Grace College. Judges were Michael Casey, Wawasee Community Schools; Jenny Campbell, Wawasee; and Shelly Wilfong, Warsaw Community Schools.
Verifiers were Milford School teachers Paula Fiscus, Christy Haupert, Betsy Likens and Cheryl Van Laeken.
