Marvin Ridge Middle student outperforms 39 competitors in record-breaking UCPS Spelling Bee
Tour de force .
That was the word that Eva Vega from Marvin Ridge Middle spelled correctly on Jan . 30 , earning her the coveted title of Union County Public Schools ( UCPS ) Spelling Bee Champion during the school district ’ s annual spelling bee .
While the 2017 UCPS Spelling Bee broke records for having the most rounds in school district history , this year ’ s spelling bee clocked in at nearly five hours , breaking another record for the longest-running While the 2017 UCPS Spelling Bee broke records for having the most rounds in school district history , spelling bee in UCPS history . this year ’ s spelling bee clocked in at nearly five hours , breaking another record for the longest-running
Each of the 40 schools spelling bee in UCPS history . participating in Tuesday ’ s spelling bee sent their school level champion . During the first half of the 4.5-hour-long competition , which was held at Central Academy of Technology and Arts , the students breezed through 14 rounds , correctly spelling words that included peloton , panglossian and eiderdown .
After the final nine students returned from a lunch break , Eva ultimately bested her competition in the 21st round after correctly spelling “ tour de force ,” which according to Merriam-Webster , means a feat or display of strength , skill or ingenuity .
Eva , who is an eighth grade student at Marvin Ridge Middle , is no stranger to spelling bee competitions . She previously won school and regional spelling bee competitions in Charlotte and even advanced to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington , DC two years ago .
But after transferring to Marvin Ridge Middle this school year , Eva said she wasn ’ t quite sure what to expect at her first UCPS Spelling Bee . So , to prepare , she reviewed lists of words from prior competitions and also reviewed other languages in an effort to find patterns in the words .
“ This was a pleasant surprise to have won because I didn ’ t know what to expect since I ’ m new to this school system ,” she said . “ It ’ s really exciting .”
Weddington Elementary fourth grader Harini Rajakumar , who was also a runner up in the 2017 UCPS Spelling Bee , came in second again this year after incorrectly spelling “ miscible .”
“ These are the best spellers that I ’ ve seen in a long time ,” Harini said . “ To have beaten so many super great spellers – that ’ s really amazing .”
Now that a district champion has been chosen , Eva represented UCPS at the 64th annual Charlotte Observer Regional Spelling Bee , held Feb . 19 at ImaginOn in Charlotte .
– This article was provided by the Union County Public Schools Communication Office .
After a record-breaking 4.5-hour competition , Marvin Ridge Middle eighth grader Eva Vega won the UCPS Spelling Bee championship on Jan . 30 .
10 • Mar / Apr 2018 • Parent Teacher Magazine