Centreville — Rocky Run students competed in the 5th Annual Rocky Run Spelling Bee on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Twenty-two students participated in the competition which was judged by four current or retired teachers. To qualify for the Bee, each student was required to attend two mandatory practice sessions. Besides coordinating the event, 7th grade English teacher Corey Wetzel was also the moderator in which she had to read and pronounce all 137 words used in the contest. The winning word was “pandiculation:” the act of stretching and yawning, especially on waking. The winner was Preeti Uppuluri and the runner-up was Rishadh Krishnan. Both students (in photo) are 7th graders.
Preeti will now represent Rocky Run at the Fairfax County Spelling Bee to be held on Thursday, March 13, at Lanier Middle School. The winner of that competition will then move on to the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.