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Different School, But He’s Still SUSD’s Best Speller
Omkar Bharath Wins District Spelling Bee for Fourth Consecutive Year
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Jan. 18, 2019) – Every year that Omkar Bharath has been eligible to compete in the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) Spelling Bee, he’s walked away with the title: from 2016-2018 as a third, fourth and fifth grader at Redfield Elementary School, and now, in 2019, as a sixth grader at Desert Canyon Middle School (DCMS).
“That puts some pressure on me,” admitted Omkar, after downing Bee winners from 23 other SUSD schools today. “It’s good pressure. It motivates me to keep trying to do it.”
Spellers faced words such as ambuscade, haberdashery, portentously and munificent. Omkar’s winning word after 13 rounds was agitated.
Next up for the DCMS spelling whiz and the five runners-up of the SUSD Bee is the Feb. 22 Region II Bee, hosted this year by the Deer Valley Unified School District. The runners-up are:
Victoria Leung, seventh grade, Mountainside Middle School; Tate Meyer, fifth grade, Redfield Elementary School; Kate Radonich, seventh grade, Ingleside Middle School; Phil Trang, fifth grade, Hopi Elementary School; and Alessi Utterback, fifth grade, Anasazi Elementary School.
Region Bee winners advance to the Arizona Spelling Bee on March 23. The state Bee winner will represent Arizona in the 92nd Scripps National Spelling Bee in suburban Washington, D.C., May 28-30.
Omkar said that while his goal is to get to the national Bee before his eligibility expires in two years, his focus for now is getting ready for the regional competition and learning new words. “This time around, whenever my mom and I saw a word we didn’t know, we looked it up. Some of them have some very strange meanings.”
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About the Scottsdale Unified School District
With more than 23,000 students in 29 schools, the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) has been a premier choice for Pre-K through grade 12 public education for more than 120 years. Located northeast of metropolitan Phoenix, the District serves the educational needs of students and families in Phoenix, Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills, Tempe and Scottsdale. A highly experienced, professionally certified teaching staff fosters a diverse and rigorous educational environment to develop the potential in every individual learner. Offering gifted learning, special education, career and technical education, and a variety of athletics, arts and enrichment programs and clubs, SUSD provides the rich environment today’s students need to explore their interests, develop important social skills and grow into tomorrow’s leaders. For more information, visit www.susd.org and follow along on social media: Facebook: @ScottsdaleUSD, Twitter: @ScottsdaleUSD, Instagram: @ScottsdaleUnifiedSD, Nextdoor, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Media Release: Different School, But He’s Still SUSD's Best Speller