After correctly spelling the word “occupy,” fifth-grader Joshua Wright edged out his competitors to occupy the top spot as the 2024 WES Spelling Bee champion! Congratulations Josh! 

Nearly 130 words and 12 rounds into the competition, Joshua, who is in Ms. Amanda Gabrione’s fifth-grade class, outlasted runner-up, Fallon Miller also a fifth-grader, who successfully spelled her way into round 11. Fourth-grader Laurel Blake was the third-place finisher, making it to round 10.

In total, 32 students in grades 3-5 competed in the school’s annual Spelling Bee. Students qualified for the competition by being the top two spellers in their classrooms as determined by their scores on a voluntary spelling test. View more pictures of the Bee on the WCSD Facebook page

Assistant Principal Catherine Casey presided over the bee as the official pronouncer, with Superintendent of Schools Dr. Don Stevens, Board of Education Vice President Mary Beth Whited and speech teacher Leah Tremblay served as judges.

We are proud of all spelling bee participants (listed below) and we thank families, teachers and friends for their support of the students!

Grade 3

Preston Hogan, Molly Sky, Jace Ransom, Qy’Liah Ings, A’Nyla Simmons, Anila Mohammadi, Hawwa Maryam, Emilson Cabrera Corea, Lincoln Gilligan, Kaden Pankow

Grade 4

Haya Kamal, Khadija Choudry, Cassie Seda, Abdul Mohseni, Laurel Blake, Quadir Wallace, Ellie Guo, Abdul Hadi Shoaib, Tamana Amani

Grade 4/5

Sebastian Reynoso, Mi’Cier Shorter-Varlack

Grade 5

Samiyah Harrington, Ziah Maye, Juliana Pankow, Nolan Herb, Colden Theinesen, Matthew Kayembe, Joshua Wright, Wesley Cassimiro, Fallon Miller, Mei’Star Burden