Plum Point Middle Student Wins Calvert County Spelling Bee
Anna Kleist of Plum Point Middle is the champion of the 29th Calvert County Spelling Bee held on March 2, 2016 at Calvert High School.
Concluding an unprecedented sixteen rounds, Anna correctly spelled the word "fuselage" to win the contest, which included fifty-three students from the six Calvert County public middle schools and three private schools.
Lauren Britt of Calvert Middle placed second.
Anna, a seventh grader, will represent Calvert County at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May in Washington, D.C. Her coach is English language arts teacher Iris Schaecher.
Anna also participates in Drama Club and is a member of the National Junior Honor Society. Her favorite subjects include English language arts, French and chorus. Mrs. Kelley Adams, principal, said, "Anna is a talented, charismatic, caring and well-rounded student. She consistently thinks of others and always encourages her peers to do well. She is looking forward to her National Spelling Bee experience and will represent Calvert County Public Schools well!"
In addition to winning her trip to the National Spelling Bee from The Calvert Recorder and Southern Maryland Newspapers, Anna was awarded a trophy and $500 from Educational Systems Federal Credit Union. Her school will also receive a $500 prize from the credit union.
The clash of kings … queens and knights at Winter Chess Tournament
Charles County Public Schools held its annual Winter Chess Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 27 at Thomas Stone High School.
The tournament was divided in five grade-level divisions—kindergarten to second grade; third and fourth grades; fifth and sixth grades; seventh and eighth grades; and ninth through 12th grades. The Swiss-style format tournament was attended by 146 students, with each playing four games. Trophies were awarded to first- and second-place winners, and medals were given to other players for place recognition. Felix Cummings served as the tournament director.
The following students placed in their division:
Grade kindergarten through second:
• Jacob Golder, first place, second grade, Mary H. Matula Elementary School;
• Ryan Hughes, second place, second grade, Matula;
• Nicholas Pankowski, third place, second grade, Matula;
• Jaylah Stephenson, third place, second grade, William B. Wade Elementary School;
• Mason Truesdell, third place, second grade, Dr. Thomas L. Higdon Elementary School;
• Jonah Alexander, fourth place, first grade, William A. Diggs Elementary School;
• Justin Bean, fourth place, second grade, Higdon;
• Jerrel Wright, fourth place, kindergarten, Dr. Samuel A. Mudd Elementary School;
• Ryan Sullivan, fifth place, second grade, Matula;
• Simon Dean, sixth place, second grade, Diggs;
• Bradley Torres, sixth place, first grade, Diggs.
Grades three and four:
• Timothy Martinez, first place, third grade, Wade;
• Suki Aumavae, second place, fourth grade, Wade
• Sameera Nageshwar, third place, fourth grade, Berry Elementary School;
• Samidha Nageshwar, fourth place, fourth grade, Berry;
• Alan Sebastian, fifth place, fourth grade, Walter J. Mitchell Elementary School;
• Asher Walters, fifth place, fourth grade, T.C. Martin Elementary School;
• Mason Cheng, sixth place, fourth grade, Malcolm Elementary School;
• William Greathouse, sixth place, third grade, Higdon;
• Juliet Moore, sixth place, third grade, Malcolm.
Grades five and six:
• Kyle Blanton, first place, fifth grade, Matula;
• Mark Johnson, second place, sixth grade, General Smallwood Middle School;
• Thomas Addison, third place, sixth grade, Smallwood;
• Liu Aumavae, fourth place, sixth grade, Davis;
• Rodney Harrison, fourth place, sixth grade, Milton M. Somers Middle School;
• Nathan Michael, fourth place, fifth grade, Matula;
• Benjamin Moore, fourth place, fifth grade, Malcolm;
• Micah Sedberry, fourth place, fifth grade, Matula;
• Arya Forohar, fifth place, sixth grade, Somers;
• Ethan Cline, sixth place, fifth grade, Dr. James Craik Elementary School.
Grade seven and eight:
• Jacob Stern, first place, seventh grade, John Hanson Middle School;
• Christopher Rand-Crawford, second place, eighth grade, Hanson;
• Dylan Gilroy, third place, eighth grade, Smallwood;
• Dorian Kilroy, third place, eighth grade, Benjamin Stoddert Middle School;
• James Moye, third place, seventh grade, Somers;
• Ebin Sebastian, third place, seventh grade, Somers;
• Michael Williams Jr., third place, eighth grade, Stoddert;
• Alyssa Rios, fourth place, seventh grade, St. Peter's Catholic School;
• Matthew Coccaro, fifth place, seventh grade, Hanson;
• Jack Glassman, fifth place, seventh grade, Somers;
• Joseph Papagno, fifth place, seventh grade, Somers.
Grade nine through 12:
• Alexander Booth, first place, sophomore, North Point High School;
• Franklin Olmsted, second place, senior, Maurice J. McDonough High School;
• Kyle Noah Batchelor, third place, sophomore, North Point;
• Paulo Bonilla, fourth place, freshman, North Point;
• Joshua Sokol, fifth place, freshman, North Point;
• Maahir Akili, sixth place, freshman, Southern Maryland Christian Academy.