Nearly 20 students competed in the Marblehead Charter Community Public School spelling bee Jan. 3, as classmates cheered them on from the sidelines. The contest is part of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The competition lasted about 70 minutes and stretched across 20 rounds, culminating in a dramatic final showdown between twins Noah and Ida Pelikhov. Noah ultimately claimed the title after correctly spelling “tontine.”
According to Merriam-Webster, a tontine is “a joint financial arrangement whereby the participants usually contribute equally to a prize that is awarded entirely to the participant who survives all the others.”
Some of the other tricky words included:
- perinephric
- companero
- heptathalon
- antebellum
- equestrian
Here’s a list of all MCCPS participants by grade:
Fourth grade: Sophia Dobson, Luka Unal, Ria Kobayashi, Noah Sweet-Slepoy
Fifth grade: Pender Smith, Neymar Cruz, Cora Amittay, Jack Pain
Sixth grade: Athena Triscuit, Alessandra Sheraj, James Campbell, James Ridgely
Seventh grade: Whitman Lento, Ida Pelikhov, Noah Pelikhov, Nae Suffriti
Eighth grade: AJ Rodriguez, Stephen Mulamata, Kauan Duarte, Colin Paradise
