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Davison Student to Represent District at National Scripps Spelling Bee!
Eighth-grader Anwesha Ahmed was in for a surprise when she logged on for a video news interview from WXYZ Channel 7 News in early spring.
The Davison Elementary-Middle School student learned she had won the regional Scripps spelling bee and qualified for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
“I was really shocked,” Anwesha says.
Competing against 94 students from school districts across Wayne County, Anwesha placed first in the WXYZ Channel 7 News' regional spelling bee, earning her the spot at the national spelling bee. The bee will be held from May 28 to June 2 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.
The District last sent a student to the national spelling bee in 2019. Zaara Noor, who also attended Davison Elementary-Middle School at the time, competed in the national competition.
Anwesha secured her spot at the regional spelling bee by winning her school spelling bee. While all K-8 schools were encouraged to hold spelling bees, only grades five through eight sent their top speller to the District and regional spelling bees. DPSCD sent 47 students to the regional spelling bee, says Choya Stovall, Program Supervisor of K–12 Literacy.
Before the school spelling bee, Anwesha first placed in the top two in her classroom bee. She says it was her goal to win the regional spelling bee.
“I felt accomplished because I was actually planning to go to the national spelling bee,” she says.
She says she’s excited to travel to the nation's capital for the first time with her parents and brother, who have encouraged her and cheered her on from the beginning. To prepare for the national level, she plans to study words provided by the bee and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
“I study every day and I think I’m going to study all the way until the very end,” she says.
Qiana Knight, a first-grade ELA teacher, and the school’s spelling bee coordinator, says Anwesha is focused, humble, and self-driven.
“It’s so big because I think for other students they look up to her as a leader, not just for her grade but for the whole school. We made sure that we had her put on our morning message just to congratulate her,” Knight says. “I just think it’s a huge accomplishment for her and for the school in general.”
Spelling Bees Benefit Student Learning
Knight says spelling bees improve students’ public speaking and communication skills. Students also take ownership of their learning when they study and compete in the bees.
And bees are more than just knowing how to spell a word. Students also study words’ origins and usage to aid them in spelling, which improves reading comprehension and promotes literacy, Knight says.
How to Watch the Bee
The National Scripps Spelling Bee will be broadcast live on ION Television on the evening of Thursday, June 1, 2023. The full schedule is available on spellingbee.com.