8th Grader emerged as the champion of the Middle School Spelling Bee

Harshit Kondle is the first to admit that he is not a “big speller.”

But he credits his proficiency in spelling to his passion to read.

“I read a lot,” the 8th Grade student at the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School revealed.

“And that helps my spelling.”

His joyful experiences as a reader were on display when the Middle School held its final round of the annual Spelling Bee in the school’s auditorium during the morning of Thursday, January 19.

He emerged from a field of 13 finalists to be standing alone on stage at the end when he was crowned the champion of the Middle School Spelling Bee.

Once he correctly spelled the word presented to him—PREDECESSOR— he was awarded the title.

Harshit’s 8th Grade classmate, Akshaj Kalepalli, finished as the runner-up in the competition that lasted 12 rounds, which is a testament to the spelling skills of these 13 Middle School students. Each of the 13 students received a certificate for their participation in the final round.

The coordinator of the event was also the pronouncer, Lindsay Rath, who is a Latin teacher and in her first year on the faculty at the Middle School.

“They asked for someone to volunteer to run the Spelling Bee and I jumped on it,” Ms. Rath reported. “I was in spelling bees as a kid.”

She was joined at the scorer’s table in the auditorium by three staff members from the Middle School–Psychologist Marissa Pellichero, Counselor Julia Meiisterich and English teacher Elizabeth DeMeyer.

Here is the list of the 13 Middle School students who competed in the final round in the  Spelling Bee on January 19. Their names are followed by their grade.

Thripura Arunraj 7th

Arav Jain 7th

Aishanya Makode 7th

Arihaan Mallick 7th

Shubham Roy-Choudhury 7th

Anwitha Siddamsetty 7th

Sri Kakarla 8th

Akshaj Kalepalli 8th

Harshit Kondle 8th

Diya Mohan 8th

Calyne Paek 8th

Kanika Seksaria 8th

Joann Thomas 8th

Harshit will join the other winners from schools throughout Somerset County who will advance to the seventh annual Spelling Bee Spectacular that will be held on Saturday, March 4, in the Montgomery Township Municipal Building.

 The county-wide competition that is sponsored by Scripps National Spelling Bee will be contested in the council chambers of the municipal building that is located 100 Community Drive in Montgomery. The event will begin at 1 p.m.

 The eventual winner from that contest in Montgomery will move on to the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., in late spring. There will be additional prizes for the winner and the runners-up. For more information, please email spellingbee@sclibnj.org.