Students Advance to the 2011 Duval County Spelling Bee | Schools

Twenty-one elementary and middle school students have been selected to represent Duval County in the county Spelling Bee on Tuesday, January 25, at 6 p.m. at Mandarin Middle School.

The following students were selected from amongst all school champions participating in the Duval County Preliminary Spelling Bee on January 11 at Mandarin Oaks Elementary:

FINALIST

SCHOOL

GRADE

Cailah Bailey

Mandarin Oaks Elementary

5th

Ashley Barron

James Weldon Johnson Middle

8th

Teagan Belloit

Atlantic Beach Elementary

5th

Allie Brown

Fletcher Middle

8th

Laura Dzubay

Mayport Middle

8th

Abigail Farah

San Jose Elementary

5th

Brendan Farrell

San Jose Catholic School

6th

Kyla Hlubek

Twin Lakes Academy Middle

7th

Alicia Hou

Jacksonville Beach Elementary

5th

Zachary Knecht

Sacred Heart Catholic School

6th

Ashlie Malone

Julia Landon College Prep.

6th

Jack McCormack

St. Matthews Catholic

8th

Walker Miller

Susie Tolbert Elementary

5th

Christopher Norris

Joseph Stilwell Middle

7th

Maeghan Pettus

Assumption Catholic School

8th

Julia Sessions           

San Jose Episcopal Day

5th

Manija Sidiqi           

JEB Stuart Middle   

7th

Karl Singletary

LaVilla School of the Arts

8th

Ariel Szoychen

Kirby-Smith Middle           

8th

Matthew Tan

Harvest Community School

8th

Collin York

Jacksonville Country Day

6th

*The students' names are listed in alphabetical order, not according to test score ranking.

Jill Lively, a Duval County Public Schools' (DCPS) teacher from Mandarin Oaks Elementary, is serving as the spelling bee coordinator. The pronouncer will be Robyn White, a teacher at Chimney Lakes Elementary, and the head judge is Tim Ballentine, DCPS' executive director of instructional research and accountability. Tom Scott, DCPS' director of testing, is acting as the round judge, Angela Fuller, the principal of Assumption Catholic School, is the recording judge and Christina Knopf, DCPS’ coordinator of student data and analysis, is the dictionary judge.

The winner of the Duval County Spelling Bee will compete against other regional winners at The Florida Times-Union Regional Spelling Bee on Saturday, February 19, at the Main Branch of the Jacksonville Public Library. The winner of the regional bee will compete in the national spelling bee, scheduled at the end of May in Washington, D.C.

The Duval County Spelling Bee is sponsored by The Florida Times-Union, and is conducted according to the contest rules of the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee.

Duval County Public Schools operates 172 schools and serves approximately 123,000 students. The school district is committed to providing high quality educational opportunities that will inspire all students to acquire and use the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in a global economy, and culturally diverse world.