7th grader crowned regional spelling bee champ, again
March 6, 2023
Raana is no stranger to the Western Pennsylvania Spelling Bee. He won the regional competition in 2020 as a fourth grader. In 2021, he finished second.
Bee Week 2023 will take place from May 28 to June 2 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. Bee Week is a week-long experience for spellers and their families that includes special events, educational workshops, excursions into Washington, D.C., and more. The national competition will begin with the Preliminaries on Tuesday, May 30, and conclude with the Finals on Thursday, June 1.
Raana qualified for the regional spelling bee by finishing first at the school-level event. Other school-level winners from Upper St. Clair included: Jasneh Kaur, Baker Elementary School; Viktor Misic, Eisenhower Elementary School; Sailee Kumar, Streams Elementary School; and Luka Beric, Boyce Middle School. Luka was unable to attend the regional event; therefore, the first runner-up from Boyce, Aanya Jha, qualified for and competed in the Western Pennsylvania Spelling Bee.
The Upper St. Clair school-level spelling bees, open to students in grades 4 – 8, were sponsored by the USC Parent Teacher Council and each school’s parent organization. The Western Pennsylvania Spelling Bee is open to students through grade 8 from throughout a 26-county region.
In addition to spelling, Raana excels in mathematics. He is one of 11 Upper St. Clair middle school students who recently earned a perfect score in the annual CalcuSolve competition, sponsored by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.