Duval County students compete for spot at Regional Spelling Bee
The annual Duval County Spelling Bee will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, February 7, at Landon Middle School, 1819 Thacker Ave.
The following students will be competing for the right to represent Duval County in the Regional Spelling Bee on Saturday, February 23, at the Main Branch of the Jacksonville Public Library:
During the presentation portion of the meeting, which begins promptly at 6 p.m. in the Cline Auditorium, 1701 Prudential Drive, the following people were recognized:
| Finalist |
School |
Grade |
| Dipayan Banerjee |
Mandarin Oaks Elementary |
5th |
| Ashley Elisabeth Barron |
San Mateo Elementary |
5th |
| Catherine Mary Braza |
LaVilla School of the Arts |
6th |
| Michael Steven Cheiken |
Martin J. Gottlieb Day |
8th |
| Kate Corrigan |
San Jose Catholic |
8th |
| Connor Dawedeit |
Sacred Heart Catholic |
8th |
| Avery Sebastian Garrett |
Kirby-Smith Middle |
6th |
| Kiana Renee Goodall |
Ribault Middle |
6th |
| Andrew Lewis Hunt |
Duncan U. Fletcher Middle |
8th |
| Tram-Anh Huynh |
Darnell-Cookman Middle |
8th |
| Maria Ilyas |
Florida Virtual Academy |
7th |
| Cody Ray Ingle |
Mayport Middle |
8th |
| James Cliett Jones |
Ft. Caroline Middle |
7th |
| Gloria Li |
Susie E. Tolbert Elementary |
5th |
| Kayla Loraine Lovett |
Riverside Presbyterian Day |
6th |
| Ian Manuel |
Kernan Middle |
6th |
| Nathan McQueen |
Jacksonville Country Day |
6th |
| Nina Mirano |
Twin Lakes Elementary |
5th |
| Andrew Mosser |
James Weldon Johnson Middle |
8th |
| Logan Richards |
Highlands Middle |
7th |
| Maristela Soberano |
St. Joseph’s Catholic |
6th |
The winner of the regional bee will advance to compete in the national spelling bee scheduled May 28-29 in Washington, D.C.
Kathryn LeRoy, chief officer of curriculum services at Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) and Jill Lively, a DCPS elementary school teacher, are serving as the spelling bee coordinators. The pronouncer will be Tom Welsh, DCPS director of research services.
Judges for the event are Tim Ballentine, DCPS executive director of instructional research and accountability; Tom Scott, DCPS supervisor of test development/MAP; Susan Biehler, DCPS supervisor of test development/EOC; and JoAnn Leskanic, principal of Assumption Catholic School.
The Duval County Spelling Bee is sponsored by The Florida Times-Union, and is conducted according to the contest rules of the 2008 Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee.
