Mattawoman Middle School seventh grader Craig Storm, pictured left, won the title of top speller at the annual Charles County Spelling Bee held Feb. 20 at John Hanson Middle School. He advances to the national event in May. Hanson seventh grader Nicholas Gallegos, pictured right, earned second place.
Craig Storm, a seventh-grade student at Mattawoman Middle School, earned the title of top speller at the Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) 37th annual Spelling Bee held Feb. 20 at John Hanson Middle School.
Storm spelled the word “pernicious,” which means something that can cause great harm or damage, or is highly injurious or destructive, to earn first place. As the Charles County winner, Storm advances to the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee scheduled for May 24-30 in Washington D.C.
Nicholas Gallegos, a seventh grader at John Hanson Middle School, earned second place in the competition. Additionally, teams from each competing school are awarded points based on student performance during each round. The team from Mattawoman earned first place for their team performance. Along with Storm, team members are eighth grader NeKara Smith, and seventh graders Jordan Bellamy and Shania Williams. Mattawoman eighth grader Amaya Nelson is the team alternate. The team coach is Elesa Ansell, a language arts teacher at Mattawoman. As the first-place team winner, the Mattawoman team was awarded a special plaque to display in the school.
The bee was aired live on the CCPS website and is available for view here. Students from all Charles County public middle schools and county private schools are invited annually to participate in the event. The spelling bee is sponsored by CCPS, the College of Southern Maryland, the Maryland Independent, Chaney Enterprises and Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SMECO).