On Monday, February 2, our top spellers from the Middle School took to the podium in Mary Eliot Chapel to test out their spelling skills in front of an audience at the annual MICDS Spelling Bee. Spelling Bee is an after-school club at MICDS, and anyone in fifth through eighth grade is eligible to participate. This year’s bee included the following nine spellers:
- Sreenik Daripally ’31
- Wyatt Eggers ’30
- Sarvajith Ganapathi Subramanian ’30
- Aarushi Gokulakrishnan ’30
- Brenda Huang ’32
- Rosie Kelley ’30
- Lucas Li ’32
- Ria Natarajan ’32
- Mariam Zaid ’31
To prepare for the bee, the Spelling Bee Club held three practice sessions that began in November and led up to the competition. During practice sessions, students played games such as Scattergories, NYT Spelling Bee, and practiced words as a whole group and individually in a mock Spelling Bee fashion.
This year’s competition included Middle School English Teacher Olivia Halverson as the pronouncer and Middle School English Teacher Megan Caulfield as the Head Judge. They were assisted by two record keepers as well: Middle School English Teacher Beth Garcia and 23rd-place winner at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2022, Yash Shelar ’26.
How are words selected? For the contest, the Scripps National Spelling Bee provides an annual competition list of words from first through eighth grade. The MICDS Middle School Spelling Bee starts the contest at the fifth-grade words and made it through all of the eighth-grade words! Following that, they used several of the competition list words that were not released to students prior to the day of the bee!
What are the rules of the Spelling Bee and its format? The bee is conducted in rounds, with each speller having the opportunity to spell a word orally, one person at a time. If a student misspells a word, they are eliminated from the bee, and the bee continues until one student successfully spells a word correctly in a round where they are the only remaining participant.
This year’s 2026 MICDS School Spelling Bee Champion is seventh grader Mariam Zaid! She won by correctly spelling the word “prognosticate.” Congratulations, Mariam! The 2026 runners up were Sreenik Daripally and Brenda Haung.
Next up for Mariam will be participating in the regional bee qualifier on February 28, 2026 at St. Louis University. If she attains eligibility, she’ll be offered a spot to participate in the regional Spelling Bee in March. Go Mariam! MICDS is cheering you on!
Upon reflecting on the spelling contest, Ms. Halverson shared her pride in watching these MICDS students embrace their love of words. “This is my fifth year conducting the MICDS Spelling Bee, and it’s incredible to see students’ passion for learning the words! Being a club that is open to all middle schoolers, I feel fortunate to witness the collaboration and connectivity that is built amongst the students across grade levels. Spelling Bee Club brings out students’ competitive nature as well as empathy for those who excel beyond their current position. The students who participate truly embody the Middle School’s mantra of LEAD – learning with curiosity and joy, embracing challenge, advocating for self and others, and demonstrating collaboration and teamwork.”
Congratulations to all of our blossoming spellers! May your competitive spirit and passion for language “prognosticate” a future where you thrive as logophiles, no matter where your journeys lead!