A fifth grade student at Welch Elementary School won the Coweta County School System’s district-wide Spelling Bee held Jan. 12 at the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts on Monday.
Aanchal Patel, a 5th grader at Welch Elementary, 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, said school system spokesman Dean Jackson.
Jackson said the 25 competitors at Monday’s bee were all winners of their own school spelling bees, which were held earlier in the school year.
Patel and James each received a Kindle Fire, provided by bee sponsor BB&T of Newnan and awarded by Garnett Reynolds of BB&T Bank.
Jackson said Coweta’s annual spelling bee began with 25 students in grades 4-8 who were 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,” said Jackson. ”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, said Jackson.
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 while Jackson served as pronouncer for the spelling bee.
