Jason Williams stood tall and confidently spelled the word P-R-E-V-I-O-U-S to take home the 15th Annual Culver City Unified School District Spelling Bee title on February 20 at Robert Frost Auditorium. The fifth-grader from La Ballona Elementary School finished atop 23 other spellers – four students from each of the district’s five elementary schools and Culver City Middle School competed.
Williams also took home a first-place trophy and a $200 cash prize courtesy of the Culver City Education Foundation, which sponsored the event. He will advance to the Los Angeles County Spelling Bee, which will be held on March 18 at Almansor Court, 700 S. Almansor St., in Alhambra. The winner of that competition will advance to the statewide spelling bee in Sonoma in May.
The Culver City Education Foundation also presented a trophy and $150 in cash to second-place finisher Alexander Rodriguez Y. Gibson, a sixth-grader from Culver City Middle School; and a trophy and $100 in cash to third-place finisher Matthew Briseño, a fourth-grader from El Marino Language School.
In addition, each participant received a certificate of commendation signed by the District’s superintendent congratulating him or her on reaching the Spelling Bee finals.
Congratulations to all of the Spelling Bee finalists:
Culver City Middle School
Alexander Rodriguez Y Gibson
Charlotte Sasson
Orion Chow Countryman
Payton Lin
El Marino Language School
Emma Monges
Jacob Zeitlin
Matthew Briseño
Westley Watson
El Rincon Elementary School
Khalen Loredo
Luke Scott
Nicholas Richardson
Sienna Robles
Farragut Elementary School
Bodie Jenkins
Kiran Paesel
Lily Chen
Talia Sriro
La Ballona Elementary School
Jason Williams
Maliah Green
Mica Zattelino
Pilar Paez
Linwood E. Howe Elementary School
Aariz Henry
Damari Matthews
Franklin Westbrooks
Paige Maxson
