By: Michelle Kinsey—
Muncie, IN – Fifty-five spellers are scheduled to compete in the fourth WIPB Spelling Bee, set for 9 a.m. Saturday, March 9, in Sursa Performance Hall, on the campus of Ball State University.
WIPB will be broadcasting the regional bee LIVE as well as streaming the event on the PBS station’s website, www.wipb.org.
Students will compete from schools in Delaware, Blackford, Jay, Randolph, Madison and Henry counties. The Ball State University Teachers College has generously contributed the funds to cover the Scripps fees for all of the schools to participate.
The champion of the WIPB Spelling Bee will win an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Other prizes for the spellers include reference books, gift certificates and more.
Last year’s WIPB Spelling Bee champion was Alesya Rathinasamy, now a sixth-grader at Burris Laboratory School. Alesya will be back at this year’s bee to compete again for the title. Caleb Roberts, a student at Heritage Hall Christian School, won the 2017 bee, and the champ in 2016 was Samantha Academia, now a student at Yorktown High School.
Each year, in addition to this regional bee, WIPB partners with Motivate Our Minds for a weekly spelling bee club at the center. The club was created to get students excited about spelling, become more comfortable with public speaking and find motivation to achieve their goals. It will culminate in May with a Club Bee that enables kids who did not advance to the WIPB event the opportunity for “bee” successful within the club.
Presenting sponsors of the 2019 WIPB Spelling Bee are Family Vision Care and MutualBank.
Other supporting sponsors include Avila Orthodontics; Dr. Leland C. Wilhoite, DDS, and Boyce Systems. Our Speller Shirts Sponsor are the employees of Navient and the Championship Word Sponsor is The Muncie Optimist Club
Below are the schools, and their champion spellers, scheduled to compete in the fourth WIPB Spelling Bee:
Albany Elementary School – Peyton Engle
Alexandria-Monroe Intermediate – Preston Pulley
Anderson Christian School – Lilly McIntyre
Bloomfield Elementary School – Nicholas Laux
Blue River Valley Elementary School – Jordyn Bainter
Burris Laboratory Middle School – Alesya Rathinasamy
Burris Laboratory Elementary School – William Villaluz
Cowan Elementary School – Auren Barnell
Cowan High School – Victor Garrett
Daleville Elementary School – Ava Shulz
Deerfield Elementary School – Mariana Flores-Santos
Delta Middle School – Brandon Isler
East Elementary School – Shaun Hathcoat
East Jay County Middle School – Blake Kahlig
East Washington Academy – Jayce Burkhart
Eastside Elementary School – Kayla Donald
Eaton Elementary School – Olivia Marshall
Frankton Elementary School – Braxton Mort
General Shanks Elementary School – Grant Linville
Heritage Hall Christian Elementary School – Cergio Diaz
Heritage Hall Christian Middle School – Ashton Creamer-Lane
Highland Middle School – Kirsten McNeal
Homeschool Explorers – Isaiah Schlenker
Lee L Driver Middle School – Andrew Toney
Liberty Christian Elementary School – Anna Chappell
Longfellow Elementary School – Kayla Shaw
Maple Ridge Elementary School – Jayden Sorrell
Monroe Central Elementary School – Aaron Lord
Montpelier School – Madison Henderson
North Side Elementary School (Union City) – Vanderlei Burkett
North Side Elementary School (Hartford City) – Rylee Dunica
North View Elementary School – Sophia Hess
Northside Middle School – Charles Graham
Pendleton Elementary School – Gavin Yarger
Randolph Southern Elementary School – Mia Saylor
Redkey Elementary School – Savannah Hammond
Royerton Elementary School – Jocelyn Mitchell
Selma Elementary School – Penelope Carl
Selma Middle School – Kody Lingenfelter
South View Elementary School – Prestyn Shockley
Southside Middle School – Maela Cole
St. Lawrence Elementary School – Ce’Azyiah Banks
St. Mary School – Shae Punzal
St. Pope John Paul II Middle School – Marrin Allen
Union City Community Jr/Sr High School – Nautica Buck
Union Elementary School (Modoc) – Reed Wicker
Union Jr/Sr High School (Modoc) – Chloe Wicker
Wes-Del Elementary School – Teegan Jones
Wes-Del Jr/Sr High School – Trooper Bullock
West Jay County Middle School – Dylan Barnes Plessinger
West View Elementary School – Kachtiana Quate
Westlawn Elementary School – Julius Fields
Willard Elementary School – Aiden Mendenhall
Yorktown Elementary School – Liam Jenkins
Yorktown Middle School – Mahathi Raju
A Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) affiliate, WIPB-TV is licensed to Ball State University and serves nearly 1.5 million people in east central Indiana and western Ohio. WIPB endeavors to educate, entertain and engage the communities we serve through distinctive television programs and enriching community engagement. For more information call 800-252-9472 or visit WIPB online at http://www.wipb.org.
