Salyards Middle School eighth grade student Shawn Ray, at microphone, correctly spelled the word beguile in the 27th round of the Middle School Spelling Bee on Feb. 9 at the Berry Center to clinch the championship for the third consecutive year.

Feb. 10, 2021—Salyards Middle School eighth grade student Shawn Ray won first place by correctly spelling the word beguile in the 27th round of the annual districtwide Middle School Spelling Bee, held Feb. 9 at the Berry Center. The win is the third consecutive for Ray, who won in the 19th round last year.  

Bleyl Middle School eighth grade student Michael Pham was the runner-up. Both Ray and Pham will compete in the Houston Public Media Spelling Bee, which is scheduled to be held virtually on March 9.

“Our middle school spellers were at their very best Tuesday evening, which made our district spelling bee a resounding success,” said Jacquelyn Loyd, secondary English and language arts curriculum coach. “All of the students showed how well-prepared they were and should be very proud of their accomplishments. In addition to being part of a keen competition, our spellers participated in a valuable learning experience, acquiring an expansive knowledge of words and their meanings while gaining a richer vocabulary and a higher level of literacy. Thanks to our parents and teachers for their support of our middle school spellers. I applaud all of our participants for their hard work and dedication.”

Bleyl Middle School eighth grade student Michael Pham, right, finished as the first runner-up in the Middle School Spelling Bee held Feb. 9 at the Berry Center.

The top speller from the Houston Public Media Spelling Bee will qualify for the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., June 1-3. Visit the Houston Public Media website for more information.

The Spelling Bee champions who represented their respective middle schools at the district competition are:

Campus	Participants
Aragon	Diarra Goudiaby and Reid Rainwater
Arnold	Holly Nguyen and Anvi Bhat
Bleyl	Michael Pham and Reilly Greenan
Cook	Akbar Dawood and Benjamin Trevino
Goodson	Vanshikha Sriram and Devwrat Akhare
Hamilton	William Choi-Kim and Jonathan Hausman
Rowe	Annemarie Watson and Barbabra Freeman
Salyards	Shawn Ray and Eden Avera
Smith	Poorvi Poojari and Sumit Sahoo
Spillane	Alexander Raney and Ginna Castanon
Thornton	Jeremiah Salvador and Sofia Lopez