March 9, 2020

Fourth grader advances to national spelling bee 

An Upper St. Clair fourth grader was crowned champion at the 70th Annual Western Pennsylvania Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 7, 2020, at Robert Morris University’s Yorktown Hall. Raana Parchuri, from Baker Elementary School, advances to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Bee Week 2020 will take place the week of Memorial Day, May 24 through May 29, at Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. As the winner of the Western Pennsylvania Spelling Bee, Raana receives an all-expense paid trip to compete.

Raana was one of five Upper St. Clair students who competed at the Western Pennsylvania Spelling Bee. Others included Ahana Mendhi, Eisenhower Elementary School; Iris Wang, Streams Elementary School; Nikhil Chandran, Boyce Middle School; and Rohan Mehta, Fort Couch Middle School. To qualify for the regional competition, each finished first in his/her school’s spelling bee. The school-level spelling bees, open to students in grades 4 – 8, were sponsored by the Upper St. Clair Parent Teacher Council.

The Western Pennsylvania Spelling Bee is open to students through grade 8 from throughout a 26-county region.