West Mercer Elementary School hosted its annual competitive spelling bee on March 1. About 40 students, from kindergarten through fifth grade, competed for the opportunity to continue on to the King/Snohomish Regional Spelling Bee in Seattle.

The winner of the regional bee will travel to Washington, D.C. to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Gregory Chvany came in first place with the championship word “gesticulations.” Gregory is a fifth-grade student in Mrs. Bourke’s class. He will continue on to the regional bee, which takes place at 1 p.m. at Town Hall in downtown Seattle on March 19. The regional bee will be taped and streamed live on www.seattlechannel.org.

Sidh Shroff put up a valiant effort, coming in second place, and is the alternate winner in case Gregory is unable to compete at the regional bee. Sidh is also a fifth-grader in Mrs. Bourke’s class. Sidh and Gregory are both best friends and their parents were planning on attending even if the other child won. Sidh won the Best Sportsmanship Award since he was cheering Gregory on and even gave him a big hug after he won.

West Mercer Elementary School officials are proud of all the students who competed in the 2017 non-competitive and competitive spelling bees. It is their hope that these bees encourage the students to read and to develop a love of words and spelling.