Wicomico's Top 30 Spellers Compete at 10 a.m. Saturday at UMES

Thirty Wicomico County school spelling bee champions will compete in the 3^rd Maryland Eastern Shore Spelling Bee at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne on Saturday, March 7, for a chance to be the area’s representative at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

UMES is sponsoring and hosting the regional bee, which will involve more than 50 students from public schools and some private schools in Wicomico and Somerset counties. The winner of the March 7 spelling bee will win a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee held in the Washington area in May. The winners of the first two Maryland Eastern Shore Spelling Bees were students at Bennett Middle and Wicomico Middle. The reigning winner, Gia Bautista, is one of Wicomico Middle’s two school champions again this year. For the second year, she will be competing in the spelling bee with her sister, Ava Bautista, who is representing North Salisbury Elementary.

The March 7 bee at UMES will begin at 10 a.m. and will be held in the Ella Fitzgerald Performing Arts Center (PAC). The bee is open to the public to attend, and teachers, classmates, school administrators, families and other supporters are invited to come support spellers in the bee. Ample parking is available in the parking lots adjacent to the Fitzgerald PAC.

All Wicomico schools with students in grades 4-8 held classroom or team contests and then a school spelling bee, at the end of which the top two winners were named school champions. Congratulations to the spelling champions (with the student’s grade) listed below:

Delmar Elementary: Paris Somers (4^th), Sarah Ross (4^th)

East Salisbury Elementary: Toni Fenstermacher (4^th), Eva Saintil (5^th)

Fruitland Intermediate: Grace Davis (5^th), Levi Cavaleri (4^th)

Glen Avenue Elementary: Rebecca Holland (4^th), Desmon Poinsette (5^th)

North Salisbury Elementary: Ava Bautista (5^th), Maya Matava (5^th)

Northwestern Elementary: Devin Spicer (4^th), Stacey Fisher (4^th)

Pemberton Elementary: Michelle Rao (4^th), Amy Zheng (5^th)

Pinehurst Elementary: Liyah Hill (5^th), Avery Patterson (5^th)

Prince Street Elementary: Janaye Jones (5^th), Jason Sterling-Peek (5^th)

Westside Intermediate: John Koch (4^th), Kathryn Beauchamp (5^th) 

Pittsville Elementary and Middle: Nicole Presho (4^th), Trinity Gray (5^th)

Bennett Middle: Emma Murphy (7^th), Akrem Abdelwahab (8^th)

Mardela Middle: Zora Nichols (6^th), Nathaniel Umsted (8^th)

Salisbury Middle: Cade Stone (8^th), Madison Gordy (7^th)

Wicomico Middle: Gia Bautista (8^th), Millicent Kihiuria (8^th)