By Debbie Adams
William Byrd Middle School seventh grader Rory Grant is the winner of the Roanoke County
Schools Spelling Bee – for the second time. He also won the competition as a fifth grader and
won his school spelling bee in sixth grade.
Roanoke County Public Schools Spelling Bee. He is pictured with Roanoke County Schools
Supervisor of English and RCPSOnline Joe Gault and School Superintendent Dr. Ken Nicely. (photos by Debbie Adams)
Spelling Bee winners from Vinton-area elementary and middle schools (grades 5-8) advanced
from winning their school spelling bees to participate in the 2024 Roanoke County District
Spelling Bee on January 28.
Fifth graders participating from Vinton-area schools included Aarnav Shah from Bonsack
Elementary, Amethyst Pence from Herman L. Horn, Tucker Mahanes from Mount Pleasant, and
Skylor Ward from W.E. Cundiff.
After 18 rounds, Grant won by spelling the championship word, “ruching,” a sewing term.
Grant will represent Roanoke County Schools in the upcoming Regional Spelling Bee at Radford
University in March, with runner-up Ashvin Pinnamaraju from Clearbrook Elementary as
alternate. The winner of the Regional Bee will advance to the Nationals in Washington, D.C.,
quite a prestigious honor.
Judges for the District Spelling Bee were RCPS Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ken Nicely,
Deputy Superintendent Dr. Jamie Soltis, Executive Director of Elementary Instruction Kim
Bradshaw, Executive Director of Secondary Instruction Mike Riley, and Science Supervisor
Tammy Sauls. Tracy Addison, the seventh grade English Dept. Chair at WBMS, had the difficult
assignment of being the “Pronouncer.”
The District Spelling Bee was held at the RCPS Administrative Offices, facilitated once again by
Joe LeGault, Supervisor of English and the RCPSOnline Academy. The event was sponsored by
Radford University and the Scripps National Spelling Bee organization.
LeGault told students before the competition began that they were already champions because
they had won the bees at their individual schools.
Twenty-one students from across the district competed in the Spelling Bee including Srija
Sureshkumar (Back Creek), Ryan Tran (Burlington), Omar Arrizon (Cave Spring Elementary),
Ashvin Pinnamaraju (Clearbrook), Zachary Jellerson (Fort Lewis), Gurveen Bhullar (Glen
Cove), Aubrey Robinson (Glenvar Elementary), Hiyam Aladeemah (Green Valley), Timothy
Smith (Masons Cove), Armaan Kharoty (Mountain View), Grayson Lawson (Oak Grove), Owen
Watkins (Penn Forest), Gabrielle Amo-Mensah (Cave Spring Middle), Samuel Johnson (Hidden
Valley Middle) Kevin Morsink (last year’s winner from Glenvar Middle) and Onel Ojeda
(Northside Middle).
LeGault explained to the audience, mostly made up of parents, that the spelling bee words called
come from the Scripps word list. Students are allowed to use strategies to improve their chances
of spelling the words correctly by asking for the words to be repeated, for their definition, for the
word to be used in a sentence, and/or for the word’s language of origin.
This spelling bee featured a double elimination format—students had to spell two words
incorrectly before being eliminated from the competition, not just one. The purpose of this
format is so that “the best speller, not the luckiest speller, advances to regional competition,”
LeGault explained.
To win the Spelling Bee, the final student standing had to spell a championship word.
Many of the words called were quite challenging – such as alimentation, floridly, ineffable,
opprobatory, and fruticose – with even the adults in the room looking puzzled when they were
called.
Educators say that while there are many tools to assist with spelling, it still remains an important
skill to master. Studies show that proficiency in spelling supports both reading and writing
composition.
The Roanoke County students not only displayed skill in spelling – there were 10 students still
standing after the 11 th round – but a great deal of poise, concentration, and grace under pressure,
especially this year when the bee lasted for about two hours.
Rory Grant’s proud parents are Emily and Jeffrey Grant. Amethyst Pence’s parents are Jamie
Brown and Ian Pence; Skylor Ward’s mother is Megan Ward; Aarnav Shah’s parents are Nimesh
and Archana Shah; and Tucker Mahanes’ parents are Jessica and Brian Mahanes.
Grant is not only interested in spelling. He is also a performer in local theater and will be
performing in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” at Attic Productions in Fincastle for two
weekends starting on February 7.
Grant and Pinnamaraju both received awards of Samsung Galaxy S9 FE tablets from the school
system.
