News Release

March 8, 2007

Spellers excel

Kelvin Noronha, a seventh grader at La Colina Junior High School, continued his blaze of spelling glory by taking first place in the junior high division of the annual county spelling bee held Feb. 28 in the auditorium of the Santa Barbara County Education Office. Kelvin had taken first place in the elementary division of the county competition last year as a sixth grader at Mountain View School in Goleta, and duked it out for five hours at the state level last year before finishing second in California.

His winning word in the county championship this year was bagatelle.

Liesl Sullano, a ninth grader at Cuyama Valley Junior High, took second place to join the intelligentsia at the bee. Sophie D’Arcy, a seventh grader at Goleta Valley Junior High took home the third-place trophy.

At the elementary division, Quinn Hensley, a fourth grader at Washington School in the Santa Barbara Elementary District, took home first place by spelling vouchsafe. Second place went to Rishika Singh, a sixth grader at Kellogg School in Goleta, who won by spelling miscible. Third place went to Brenna Hensley, a sixth grader at Washington School.

The two top winners in each division will proceed to the state level. The State Junior High spelling Bee will be held May 12, at the Miller Creek School in San Rafael. The 2007 Elementary State Spelling Bee will be held May 19 at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park.