![Gianluca Polenzani (3rd place), Siwanoy fifth grader Xinrui Zhang (1st place) and Colonial fourth grader Evan Kaplan with the]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1559163149/pelhamschoolsorg/keyl2nxxyeoujeoarpdi/IMG_5100.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1559163149/pelhamschoolsorg/keyl2nxxyeoujeoarpdi/IMG_5100.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1559163149/pelhamschoolsorg/keyl2nxxyeoujeoarpdi/IMG_5100.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1559163149/pelhamschoolsorg/keyl2nxxyeoujeoarpdi/IMG_5100.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1559163149/pelhamschoolsorg/keyl2nxxyeoujeoarpdi/IMG_5100.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_6/v1559163149/pelhamschoolsorg/keyl2nxxyeoujeoarpdi/IMG_5100.jpg","width":2200}])
Two students emerged victorious in this year’s Pelham Public Schools District Spelling Bee with Siwanoy fifth grader Xinrui Zhang and Colonial fourth grader Evan Kaplan taking home top honors and 6th grader Gianluca Polenzani coming in third.
The District Bee, held on May 17, was the culminating event following school-wide bees at the four elementary schools and Pelham Middle School and featured three contestants from each. The contestants were:
Colonial School
Evan Kaplan (4)
Jake Boyle (4)
Anjali Shekher (5)
Hutchinson School
Eve Drinkwine (3)
Rohini Moral (5)
Finnegan Mullen (4)
Prospect Hill School
Spencer Polsky (4)
Edith Strommen (5)
Jimmy Clunie (5)
Siwanoy School
Xinrui Zhang (5)
Aanika Roy (4)
Nishika Singh(4)
Pelham Middle School
Prashaan Malwana (7)
Milan Otondi (7)
Gianluca Polenzani (6)
“We are so incredibly proud of all of our contestants, especially Xinrui, Evan and Gianluca who were outstanding,” said Dr. Maria Thompson, Director of Humanities. “In just its second year in Pelham, the Bee has proven quite popular and has brought a new level of excitement to our schools. We are thrilled to watch our students on the grand stage showing off what they have learned, problem-solving, and representing our District so well. I would like to thank everyone who worked together to make this Bee a success, especially the Pelham Education Foundation for supporting the event, all of our judges, coaches, parent volunteers, and Tom Beck, who served as the official pronouncer.”
The District Bee was judged by Nancy Harvey, a parent of Pelham Middle School and Hutchinson School students, Laura Caruso, executive director of Pelham Together, and Augusta Turner, Pelham librarian. Each school also had teachers serve as spelling bee coaches: William Chimento (Pelham Middle School), Nicole Giordano (Hutchinson School), Linda O’Meara (Prospect Hill School), Beth Rothschild (Siwanoy School), Angela Monteleone and Alaura Stivala (Colonial School).
