Congratulations to District 140’s new Spelling Bee Champion Gabriel Paderon! Gabriel, a fourth grader from Millennium Elementary, clinched the victory by correctly spelling the word "glitch". Coming in a close second was Fernway fifth grader Tala Rafati. Third place honors went to McAuliffe fourth grader Lucas Mech.
Gabriel now advances to the 10th Annual South Cook ISC Scripps Spelling Bee in February where he will represent D140 in the competition.
“All of our competitors should be congratulated for their hard work and dedication,” said GATE Resource Teacher Susan Murphy. “It was an awesome contest, and each student did a wonderful job of representing their home school.”
Competing in the spell off were the top two building level representatives from each of the District’s seven schools - a total of 14 competitors from grades four through eight. The competition was coordinated by D140 GATE teachers Susan Murphy, Marie Hannon, Kate Duchak, and Kelly Rockaitis.
Runners up included: Ashley Stadnicki, Grissom; Ethan Crook, McAuliffe; Daina Dileep, Millennium; David Jennings, Keller; Spencer Reilly, Bannes; Galena Gojkovich, Prairie View; Jasmine Carpiso, Bannes; Ashraf Elsholi, Prairie View; Madelyn Bailey, Grissom; Erik Peterson, Fernway; Motez Jalaq, Keller.