PARSIPPANY — Central Middle School conducted its Fourth Annual Spelling Bee on Tuesday, February 27.
Sixty-six classroom spelling bee champions from sixth, seventh and eighth grade eagerly competed for the school championship.
Joanne Hirsch, Spelling Bee Coordinator and teacher of English for 38 years in the Parsippany Troy Hills School District, organized the competition based on the Scripps National Spelling Bee guidelines.
The eloquent and articulate pronouncer was Mr. Joseph Gillespie, Computer Teacher, and the judges were Mr. Thomas Curcio, English teacher and Mrs. Theresa Mulroony (Guidance Counselor). Students had been enthusiastically studying 300 challenging words in preparation for the competition, and after the initial list was exhausted, random words from prior lists were utilized.
In light of the current focus on Core Content State Standards, this competition provides the opportunity for improvement of spelling and vocabulary skills.
After sixteen arduous and intensive rounds, this year’s school champion was a seventh grader, Jason Hao, who embraced the winning title with the word “humongous.”
He will receive a plaque in his name to be displayed in the school and a free one year subscription to Encyclopaedia Britannica online (courtesy of Scripps National Spelling Bee). Seventh grader Sehaj Munot came in second and Laya Neelisetty came in third.
