Kyrene Middle School Student Claims Title in Kyrene School District Spelling Bee

Posted January 2023

Top spellers from across Kyrene competed at the Kyrene School District Spelling Bee on Thursday, January 19, 2023 in a packed Governing Board. Congratulations to District Champion Paige Erickson, an 8^th grade student at Kyrene Middle School. After 16 highly competitive rounds and 130 words, Erickson correctly spelled the championship word radioscopy to clinch the title.

The 2nd place winner was Sophie Nolan, a 7th grade student at Aprende Middle School. Erickson and Nolan will both compete in the Maricopa County Regional Bee on February 11, and they won’t be representing Kyrene alone. This year, Kyrene is eligible to send its top five spellers to the regional bee, and each of these outstanding students will compete next month:

• Paige Erickson (grade 8), Kyrene Middle School
• Sophie Nolan (grade 7), Aprende Middle School
• Aanandi Dutta (grade 4), Kyrene de los Cerritos Leadership Academy
• Joshenn Bayani (grade 7), Kyrene Traditional Academy
• Aryaman Swain (grade 4), Kyrene de las Manitas Innovation Academy

A total of 24 Kyrene spellers competed in the Bee after winning their individual school spelling bees and tackled words such as topsy-turviness, progeny, and actinic, to name a few. Kyrene congratulates all 24 spellers and wishes the students advancing to the regional bee  G-O-O-D L-U-C-K!