The first Salem City Schools Spelling Bee occurred inside the Administration Building over 30 years ago.

This year’s spelling bee took place on Tuesday, February 12, and featured five students: George Washington Carver Elementary representative Hannah Patel, East Salem Elementary representative Parneet Gill, Andrew Lewis Middle School representative Aidan Poush, South Salem Elementary representative Julz Foley and West Salem Elementary representative Drew Perez.

To participate in the competition, students had to win their classroom and school spelling bee. The Scripps National Spelling Bee provided all of the words used.

Curtis Hicks, Salem City Schools Assistant Superintendent, once again served as the event’s word pronouncer, while Chris Taibbi and Beverly Nicely, both Gifted Education Specialists, were the judges. Several teachers and family members were present to support the participants.

“Spelling requires strong visual memory. Most good spellers ‘see’ the written word in their minds. Avid readers are often good spellers since they literally see words more often than others,” Nicely said

Before spelling each word given to them, students were encouraged to take a deep breath and relax. They also had the option of asking the pronouncer to repeat the word again, define it or use it in a sentence.

Every word used in round one was less than four syllables: “calculus,” “cooperate,” “pronto,” “suffocate” and “hibiscus.” By the fourth round, only the East Salem and Andrew Lewis representative remained.

Parneet asked for both the definition and for it to be used in a sentence when she was given her next word. After taking a deep breath, she said the correct seven letters: r-i-v-u-l-e-t. Pennant, a flag denoting a sports championship or other achievement, was the eighth-round word that she stumbled on.

As the Salem City Public Schools Director of Instruction, Diane Washenberger works with each of the local schools on many things, including the VPI Preschool Program, Title I and the Gifted Program.

“I’ve found over the years that the best spellers take their time and ask allowable questions of the person who is giving the words. This includes having them repeat the word, tell the part of speech, give the definition, use the word in a sentence or provide the language of origin,” she said. “The most important thing is to slow down and take time to process the word.”

In last year’s spelling bee, Poush came in third-place. To win this year’s competition, he had to correctly spell haberdashery, a euphemism for men’s clothing or accessories. His mother, Cristina, told him over many study sessions at home to close his eyes if that helps and that’s precisely what he did. After winning the spelling bee, Aidan looked at his mother and gave her a big thumbs-up.

Aidan will represent Salem City Schools at the Southwest Virginia Regional Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 9, at William Fleming High School. Parneet will serve as the district alternate speller.

“These students are to be commended for the work and courage it takes to participate. Spelling in the English language is difficult and requires a great deal of practice. Also, it takes courage to compete. These students understand that there is only a one in five chance that they will win,” Hicks said. “They also understand that disappointment is part of competition, but they don’t let it stop them from giving it their all.”