Somerset County Library System of New Jersey will host the Second Annual SCLSNJ Bee Spectacular County Spelling Bee, a county-wide spelling bee for children grades 3-8, Saturday, March 11 at 2 p.m. at Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School, located at 14 Vogt Drive in Bridgewater. All are welcome to attend., Local schools held their own spelling bees through January. The first and second place winners will compete in SCLSNJ’s Bee Spectacular County Spelling Bee. The winner will be eligible to represent Somerset County at the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 28 in the Washington, D.C. area. SCLSNJ is an official sponsor of the Scripps National Spelling Bee., SCLSNJ is delighted to announce the following students who will be participating in the second annual SCLSNJ Bee Spectacular (information appears as placard number for spelling bee, child’s first name, child’s last name, child’s grade, school child attends, hometown):, Tejas Somasekar: Grade 3, Adamsville Elementary School, Bridgewater, Aditya Kulkarni: Grade 3, Adamsville Elementary School, Bridgewater, Rhea Patel: Grade 4, Bayberry School, Watchung, Isabella Thomas: Grade 4, Bayberry School, Watchung, Jeffrey Pravin: Grade 3, Bradley Gardens Elementary School, Bridgewater, Matthew Atienza: Grade 3, Bradley Gardens Elementary School, Bridgewater, Andrew DeAngelis: Grade 6, Branchburg Central Middle School, Branchburg, Rishi Purohit: Grade 6, Branchburg Central Middle School, Branchburg, Aarsha Shah: Grade 7, Bridgewater-Raritan Regional Middle School, Bridgewater, Matthew Quispe: Grade 8, Bridgewater-Raritan Regional Middle School, Bridgewater, Susan Lee : Grade 8, homeschool, Bedminster, Andie Zhou: Grade 6, homeschool, Somerset, Anush Polamraju: Grade 6, Cedar Hill Preparatory School, Somerset, Yuvna Musuku: Grade 6, Cedar Hill Preparatory School, Somerset, Sanjana Bandi: Grade 6, Central Jersey College Preparatory Charter School, North Brunswick, Matthew DaGraca: Grade 3, Crim Elementary School, Bridgewater, Noah John: Grade 3, Crim Elementary School, Bridgewater, Maryann Opida: Grade 6, Eisenhower Intermediate School, Raritan, Samrita Ravinder: Grade 6, Eisenhower Intermediate School, Raritan, Jacob Neptune: Grade 7, Far Hills Country Day School, Far Hills, Matthew Kolakowski: Grade 6, Far Hills Country Day School, Bridgewater, Dhruvi Mehta: Grade 7, Franklin Middle School, Princeton, Franklin Lu: Grade 7, Franklin Middle School, Somerset, Anmol Bhatia: Grade 6, Green Brook Middle School, Green Brook, Talia Hooke: Grade 8, Green Brook Middle School, Green Brook, Ronak Hunashimarad: Grade 3, Hamilton Elementary School, Bridgewater, Hriday Narang: Grade 3, Hamilton Elementary School, Bridgewater, Mithil Mouli: Grade 5, Hillside Intermediate School, Bridgewater, Jiya Mody: Grade 6, Hillside Intermediate School, Martinsville, Tara Khosla: Grade 6, Immaculate Conception School, Hillsborough, Andre Rivera: Grade 5, Immaculate Conception School, Bridgewater, Rohan Athreya: Grade 6, Montgomery Lower Middle School, Belle Mead, Isha Korgaonkar: Grade 5, Montgomery Lower Middle School, Princeton, Sanjana Venkatesh: Grade 7, Montgomery Upper Middle School, Belle Mead, Mia Kung: Grade 8, Montgomery Upper Middle School, Skillman, Sari Estomata: Grade 6, School Of Saint Elizabeth, Bound Brook, Katie Lane: Grade 5, School Of Saint Elizabeth, Basking Ridge, Vaishvik Vidavalapati: Grade 4, Thomas Edison Energysmart Charter School, Somerset, Dharani Moorthy: Grade 6, Thomas Edison Energysmart Charter School, Somerset, Marshall White: Grade 8, Valley View School, Watchung, Wesley Tseng: Grade 8, Valley View School, Watchung, Mihir Joseph: Grade 4, Van Holten Elementary School, Bridgewater, Briana Popescu: Grade 4, Van Holten Elementary School, Bridgewater, Andrew Shi: Grade 7, Warren Middle School, Warren, Zoe Wang: Grade 7, Warren Middle School, Warren, Ria Chandola: Grade 4, Woods Road Elementary School, Hillsborough, Sara Newalkar: Grade 4, Woods Road Elementary School, Hillsborough, Vera Goliyad: Grade 4, Irene E. Feldkirchner Elementary School, Green Brook, TingTing Luo: Grade 3, Irene E. Feldkirchner Elementary School, Green Brook, To help the community get to know some of Somerset County’s top spellers, they shared their favorite words:, Anush Polamraju: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilico volcanoconiosis (which is sometimes cited as one of the longest words in the English language); Tejas Somasekar and Aditya Kulkarni: interminableness;, Susan Lee: tintinnabulation; Mihir Joseph: supererogation; Matthew Kolakowski and Anmol Bhatia: prestidigitation; Sara Newalkar: kerfuffle; and Zoe Wang: eleemosynary., “We have a variety of resources that can help students prepare for the Spelling Bee as well as their academics in general,” said Jessica Trujillo, youth services manager for SCLSNJ. “For example, the Lumos Test Prep database has resources on developing a student’s study and memory skills in addition to the PARCC practice tests. All you need is your SCLSNJ library card number to access it from home or you can use one of our computers in the library.”, “I remember spelling being something learned by rote, and not very fun,” said Beth Bouwman, SCLSNJ youth services librarian and SCLSNJ Bee Spectacular co-coordinator. “That’s why I love telling our patrons about ‘Feed Me Words’ by Kris Hirschmann. It uses illustrations, short stories, puzzles, and other interactive elements to help teach the reasons that we spell things different ways. Each mini lesson takes just two pages, making it the perfect way to fit a little spelling into each day. There are also ‘Spelling Bee Fun Facts’ throughout the book, as well as tips for spelling competitions. Although any age could find something to appreciate about this book, I would recommend it especially for children in grades 3-5.”, Emcee for the evening will be Michael Kerwin, president of Somerset County Business Partnership. Pronouncer will be Brian K. Auger, SCLSNJ county library administrator., Judges for the evening will be:, Head Judge: Patricia Walsh, Somerset County Freehold member, Dictionary Judge: Corrine Fender, SCLSNJ Library Commission member, Rounds & Records Judge: Chris Corsini, SCLSNJ Library Commission chairman, Appeals Judge: Elias Ezra, Bridgewater Bound Brook Rotary president, Sponsors for this year’s Bee Spectacular include: Carol’s Creative Chocolatez of Somerville; Arcaro Award Gallery, Inc. of Raritan; Somerset County Vocational & Technical High School of Bridgewater; Rotary Club of Branchburg; Rotary Club of Bridgewater/Bound Brook; Rotary Club of Montgomery/Rocky Hill; the Friends of the Bridgewater Library; and the Friends of the Mary Jacobs Memorial Library., For more information about SCLSNJ’s Bee Spectacular, contact [email protected] or at 908-801-6465.
