In January and February 2023, fourth and fifth graders at Shady Side Academy Junior School kicked off the school's first-ever spelling bee!
Organized by fifth grade teacher Krystal Smith, all students in fourth and fifth grade were invited to participate. Throughout late January, each classroom held a spelling bee to determine who would be the class representative at the school-wide bee. The top students from each class were fifth graders Maeve Eddy, Zara Johnson and Jonathan Smith, and fourth graders Christopher Huang, Andrew Schurman and Julia Walsh.
On Tuesday, Feb. 7, these six students competed in a spelling bee in front of their third through fifth grade peers. Fourth grader Andrew Schurman won first place with the word "pioneer" and will represent Shady Side Academy virtually in the preliminary round of the Western Pennsylvania Spelling Bee on Tuesday, Feb. 21. The top 10 spellers from the preliminary round will advance to the finals at Robert Morris University on March 4.
Congratulations to all of the spelling bee contestants on a job well done, and good luck to Andrew in the regional competition!