The 6th Annual Hopkins Spelling Bee

On Friday, May 3, Hopkins held the 6th annual Hopkins Spelling Bee Finals at assembly. Ten teams comprised of the best spellers from 7th to 12th grade came out for a chance at glory, including the 2016 and 2017 champion team of Connor Hartigan '19, Nick Schoelkopf '19, and Ethan Silver '19. The first few words "sophomore," "meniscus," "dramaturgy," and "egregious" saw only one team falter. It wasn't until the word "arrhythmia" that all but two teams were knocked out of the competition. A team of seniors (Kenny Lu, Siraj Patwa, and Alex Zhang) faced off with a team of juniors (Lucy Panagos, Parker Connelly, Saira Munshani). The teams were neck and neck for several rounds, until the word "gneiss" stumped the seniors, and the juniors correctly spelled "Imam" to be named the 2019 champions. Congratulations Lucy, Parker and Saira! This year's judges were Mrs. Chapin, Mr. Pizarro and Bee Master Mr. Addison. Mr. DeVona's concert band provided a delightful musical backdrop as the teams formulated their answers. What a morning to be at HOP!

Well done to all our championship teams:
7th — Isabel Pizarro, Ivy Sun, Emma Yan
8th — Amanda Wang, Miko Coakley, Joy Xu
8th — Arin Bhandari, Charlie Fisher, Cyrus Sadeghi
9th — Albert Yang, Trey Chometa, Owen Lamothe
10th — Simon Bazelon, Hannah Szabo, Gonzalo de la Mora
11th — CC Rocco, Petey Graham, Katherine Takoudes
11th — Lucy Panagos, Saira Munshani, Parker Connolly (2019 Champions)
12th — Kenny Lu, Siraj Patwa, Alex Zhang
12th — Sana Patel, Bruno Moscarini, Olivia Capasso
12th — Connor Hartigan, Nick Schoelkopf, Ethan Silver (2016 and 2017 champions)