More spelling champs advance

Feb 1, 2010 — Can you spell P-a-r-m-e-s-a-n? What about h-a-c-i-e-n-d-a? Mathews Sajan, a third-grader at Paseo Verde Elementary, can — and did — in this year’s Annual Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) Spelling Bee, held on Jan. 27 at the District Administration Center.

Sajan, along with the six runners-up – Desert Valley's Diego Mussi, Alta Loma’s Kamia Soliz, Oasis' Pooja Dwivedi, Pioneer's Larry Nichols, Foothills' Vincent Tso and Copperwood's Shea Ruch — will advance to the Maricopa County Regional IV Bee, which will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at the Washington Elementary Administration Center.

Each of the 31 elementary schools send a top speller from third- through eighth-grade to the District spelling bee. The winner and runners-up hope to win the regional and advance to the state and national level of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Other words spelled in the final rounds included colloquial, gregarious and contiguous.