Five crowned school Spelling Bee champs
![Spelling Bee winners]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1738955916/uscsdk12paus/hh4a1zeiwbomhgjpgxa8/2025SpBee.png","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1738955916/uscsdk12paus/hh4a1zeiwbomhgjpgxa8/2025SpBee.png","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1738955916/uscsdk12paus/hh4a1zeiwbomhgjpgxa8/2025SpBee.png","width":800}])
Five Upper St. Clair students have been crowned their school’s spelling bee champion – qualifying for the preliminary round of the 75th annual Western Pennsylvania Spelling Bee.
Lipi Kairi, Baker Elementary School; Isidora Lukic, Eisenhower Elementary School; Barrett Dearolf, Streams Elementary School; Eli Karambelkar, Boyce Middle School; and Mateo Lin, Fort Couch Middle School, now advance to an online test of vocabulary and spelling.
The top 15 spellers from the preliminary round will move on to the final in-person event, which is set for March 2025 at Point Park University.
The school-level spelling bees, open to all students in grades 4 – 8, were sponsored by the Baker PTA, Eisenhower PTO, Streams PTO, Boyce PTO, and Fort Couch PTSO.
The Western Pennsylvania Spelling Bee is open to students up through grade 8 from throughout a 27-county region. The winner of the Western Pennsylvania Spelling Bee will have the opportunity to compete in the 100th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, which will take place in May 27-29, 2025, in the Washington, D.C. area.
Upper St. Clair ninth grader Raana Parchuri won the Western Pennsylvania Spelling Bee in 2020, 2023 and 2024.
Upper St. Clair’s school-level results:
Baker Elementary School (grade 4)
- 1st Place: Lipi Kairi, in the 18th round with the winning word "equality"
- 2nd Place: Avyukth Mayurnath
- 3rd Place: Reyansh Jha
- 4th Place: Austin Fang
- 5th Place: Violet Regan
Eisenhower Elementary School (grade 4)
- 1st Place: Isidora Lukic, in the 13th round with the winning word "vaunted"
- 2nd Place: Kadena Pichirilo
- 3rd: Ayham Alomairi
- 4th: Sam Chapagai
- 5th: Lilly Qian
Streams Elementary School (grade 4)
- 1st Place: Barrett Dearolf, in the 18th round with the winning word "emergency"
- 2nd Place: Nivan Tambe
- 3rd: Atharv Pandey
- 4th: Vian Mistry
- 5th: Brooks Coffman
Boyce Middle School
- 1st Place: Eli Karambelkar (gr. 5), in the 19th round with the winning word "kippers"
- 2nd Place: Pragnya Chetlur
- 3rd: Eva Sai
- 4th: Ryan Boris
- 5th: Sailee Kumar
Fort Couch Middle School
- 1st Place: Mateo Lin (gr. 7), in the 19th round with the winning word, "legatee"
- 2nd Place: Roshan Shreesai Senthilkumar
- 3rd: Luka Beric
- 4th: Avik Pandey
- 5th: Rihaj Odari
- Baker
- Boyce
- Eisenhower
- Fort Couch
- Streams