Welch Elementary School student Aanchal Patel won Coweta County’s district-wide Spelling Bee, held at the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts on Monday, January 12.
Patel – a 5th grader at Welch – became Coweta County’s 2015 spelling bee champion in the 15th round of the annual competition. She and runner-up Dynahsty James – a Lee Middle School 8th grader – sparred for the annual title in a spell-off that ended with Patel correctly spelling “delinquent” and then “intelligible” for the win.
This year’s spelling bee winner and runner-up each received a Kindle Fire, provided by bee sponsor BB&T of Newnan and awarded by Garnett Reynolds of BB&T.
Coweta’s annual spelling bee began with 25 4th through 8th grade students – the winners of school spelling bees held in Coweta County’s 19 elementary schools and 6 middle schools.
This was the first year that Patel competed in the county-wide spelling bee. Lee Middle School’s James – this year’s second place winner – also won second in the county’s 2014 spelling bee. Third-place speller Tevyn Fudge – of Arnall Middle School – was Coweta County’s 2012 winner, the 2011 runner-up, and the 2014 third-place finisher in the county-wide bee.
In all, Monday was a good night for Welch Elementary School ‘Bulldogs.’ All three contenders for the top spelling title were current or former Welch Elementary students.
Principal Leigh Munson of Eastside Elementary School, Dr. Jan Franks of Arnall Middle School, and Dr. Christi Hildebrand of Elm Street Elementary School served as judges, and Dean Jackson served as pronouncer, for Tuesday’s spelling bee.
The 25 competitors at Monday’s bee were all winners of their own school spelling bees, which were held earlier in the school year. The winners and runners-up at this year school spelling bees were:
School 2015 School Winners 2015 School Runners-up
Arbor Springs Elementary Abby Snyder Jack Harney
Arnco Sargent Elementary Serenity Fort McKinley Gore
Atkinson Elementary Madison Davis Josephine Hinely
Brooks Elementary Jykeer Bryant Caleb King
Canongate Elementary Julia Stewart Mason Doona
Eastside Elementary Gia Perry Kaitlyn Sharpe
Elm Street Elementary Whitney Wallace Justin Herring
Glanton Elementary Andrea Overman Imani Hamilton
Jefferson Parkway Elementary Jordyn Hardaway Saskia Garcia
Moreland Elementary Autumn Baker Benjamin Oliver
Newnan Crossing Elementary Liberty Nguyen Darrin Smith
Northside Elementary Andrew Brooks Ruth Burnette
Poplar Road Elementary Grayson Smith Ethan Lyons
Ruth Hill Elementary Ryan Cain Anauia Matthews
Thomas Crossroads Elementary Kaili Moore Logan Stelling
Welch Elementary Aanchal Patel Jennifer Jung
Western Elementary Christopher Dennis Jaidyn Webb
White Oak Elementary Hannah Stinchcomb Aiden Boswell
Willis Road Elementary Reid Roberts Ethan Renfroe
Arnall Middle Tevyn Fudge Ashna Patel
East Coweta Middle Zach Thoma Madison Johnson
Evans Middle March Loftin Amber Payton
Lee Middle Dynahsty James Aileen Cox
Madras Middle Ashley Dombrowski Sharnai Ivory
Smokey Road Middle Joshua Rechy Demondria Clark
