Middle Schoolers Shine at Annual Spelling Bee

This year’s Middle School Spelling Bee was one for the record books. A total of 49 students took the stage—marking the largest turnout in more than a decade—and faced off in an impressive eight rounds, spelling over 100 words before a champion emerged.

After a nail-biting final round, Emmalyn P. ’32 claimed first-place honors by correctly spelling the winning word, “Nehru.” Garrett B. ’31 earned second place, followed by Avery B. ’30 in third, rounding out a strong showing by all finalists.

Moderated by Amy Cushman, the competition challenged students with a wide-ranging and sophisticated word list, including “chartreuse,” “galleon,” “chignon” and “archipelago.” Demonstrating both poise and preparation, students thoughtfully requested definitions and sentence usage before confidently spelling each word.

With her victory, Emmalyn now advances to represent Norfolk Collegiate at the TowneBank Regional Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 7. We wish her the best of luck as she takes the next step—congratulations to all of our spellers for an outstanding competition!