Kyrene de los Cerritos Speller Claims Title In 2022-23 Regional Spelling Bee

Posted February 2023

Top spellers from across the southeast valley competed in the Maricopa County Region 1 Spelling Bee on Saturday, February 11. Congratulations to Regional Champion Aanandi Dutta, a 4^th grade student at Kyrene de los Cerritos Leadership Academy.

After nine highly competitive rounds, Dutta was the only speller in the ninth round to successfully spell divestiture. In the tenth and final round, Dutta correctly spelled the championship word vexatious to clinch the title. Kyrene School District Spelling Bee champion Paige Erickson, an 8^th grade student at Kyrene Middle School, was also among the top 10 regional spellers.

A total of 33 spellers from Kyrene School District, Mesa Public Schools, Tempe Elementary School District and private, charter and homeschool organizations competed in the Bee after winning their individual qualifying spelling bees.

Dutta will move on to the Arizona State Spelling Bee on March 18 at the Madison Center for the Arts. The top two spellers in that competition will qualify for the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Kyrene congratulates all spellers and wishes Dutta and other regional Bee winners G-O-O-D L-U-C-K!