C.E. Williams Middle School’s (South campus) Keerthana Samuel has been named Charleston County School’s District (CCSD) Spelling Bee winner for the third year in a row.
“We are very proud of Keerthana,” said Principal Kevin Smith. “Winning the CCSD Spelling Bee once is a great accomplishment. Winning it three consecutive years is almost implausible. Congratulations to her, the other winners, and everyone who participated. To have the confidence and commitment to compete is an accomplishment unto itself.”
For the second year in a row, the competition was held virtually, facilitated by the online spelling platform created by Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Samuel and the rest of the Top 10 spellers will be moving forward to Spellbound, the regional spelling bee hosted by the Post and Courier.
Samuels said the spelling assessment competition was easier than the other competitions because of the experience she gained in prior events.
“I did not feel as nervous as I was in my previous spelling bees,” Samuels added.
Top 10 Spellers Include:
Jordan Bazzle, Charleston County School of the Arts; Claire Bidgood, Thomas Cario Middle School; John Graham, Moultrie Middle School; Charlotte Ham, Northwoods Middle School; Shivam Kolwalkar, Ashley River Creative Arts Elementary School; Melisa Ruiz, North Charleston Creative Arts Elementary School; Keerthana Samuel, C. E. Williams Middle School (South Campus); Priyanka Sattur, Laing Middle School; Aaliyah Spencer, Jerry Zucker Middle School; and Ahmed Touma, Simmons-Pinckney Middle School.
Forty-two school bee winners, from fifth to eighth grade, participated in this year’s district spelling competition. At the school level, school bee coordinators could facilitate socially-distanced, in-person competitions or use an online format.
CCSD’s online spelling bee was structured just as last year’s competition. Students had 30 minutes to spell 25 words. The online format allowed the student to hear the word and then provided the origin of the word, part of speech, and a sentence that the word could be used.
Samuel was able to spell every word correctly, making her the clear winner.
“I am honored to once again represent CCSD and C.E Williams Middle School,” said Samuels.
Spellbound will be held Thursday, March 24, 2022. The winner, along with the other 229 regional bee champions, will advance to the 2022 Scripps National Bee. The event will return to the Washington D.C. area on Thursday, June 2, 2022, and will be televised nationally.
For more information, contact the Division of Strategy and Communications at (843) 937-6303.
