Rhode Island State Spelling Bee
The Rhode Island State Spelling Bee
Saturday,
March 16,
10 a.m.
Enroll Your School
WELCOME
Thank you for your interest in the Rhode Island State Spelling Bee. The Bee is tentatively scheduled to be held on Saturday, March 16, 2024 at 10 a.m. at the Blackstone River Theatre in Cumberland, RI. You’ll find all the information you need here. Remember, only students from schools registered with the Scripps National Spelling Bee may participate. Thank you!
- James Quinn, deputy publisher, The Valley Breeze.
Rhode Island Spelling Bee News
LINCOLN - After several nail-biting rounds, St. Margaret School's eighth grader Penelope Sargeant reigned victorious after spelling the word “telegnosis” and winning word “interpellate” correctly.
Sargeant, who is the daughter of Christine and Greg Sargeant, will move on to Washington, D.C., to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May and represent the state.
The State Spelling Bee, sponsored annually by The Valley Breeze , is in its 15th year at Lincoln Middle School. The Breeze’s publisher Jamie Quinn served as this year's coordinator, along with WPRI-TV's Kim Kalunian as the official pronouncer.
2023's Chief Judge was Dr. Donna Morelle, former Cumberland Superintendent of Schools, and other judges included Martha Correia from Navigant Credit Union, and Leigh Martin who is a Professor of English at the Community College of Rhode Island.
19 students throughout the state participated this year and took the stage at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 18. Participating students from northern Rhode Island included James MacDonald from Ricci Middle School in North Providence; Ethan Abreu from Lincoln Middle School; Andres Puerta from Central Falls, attending Blackstone Valley Prep; Elenice Zambotto Pupo of Vincent J. Gallagher Middle School in Smithfield; Elliana Pagliarini of Foster, attending Hope Elementary School; and Savannah Gustafson from North Smithfield Elementary School.
The spellers went through 11 rounds with two to three of them eliminated each round. By the 11th round, there were only three spellers left including Sergeant, Ananya Thakkar from Wheeler School and Audrey Sarit from Highland Charter Schools, who put up a good competition, going multiple rounds before Sergeant spelled “telegnosis” and “interpellate” correctly.
Sargeant's mother told The Breeze that she had been studying hard for this, and that Sargeant's mother had herself been a reader since the age of four. Her grandmother, who recently passed away, was also a librarian.
Denise Zavota, a teacher at St. Margaret’s School, who sponsored the school’s bee, was present to support Sargeant on Saturday and said that the win was well deserved, with Sargeant winning her school’s bee every year since fourth grade.
Sargeant joked that she was planning on going on a school trip in May around the same time as the Scripps Spelling Bee, so now that she will be competing there, it’ll be an excuse to extend her trip.
- By JACQUELYN MOOREHEAD
- Valley Breeze & Observer Staff Writer
- jackie@valleybreeze.com
The newly-crowned state champion Daglieri, daughter of Heather Daglieri, attends Immaculate Conception Regional School in Cranston. She will now move on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Maryland on June 2.
According to her mother, young Daglieri studied “like crazy” for the bee, and her mom was confident she would win. Daglieri said she was so excited to win, saying she expected to be eliminated in the first round, but she showed no signs of a lack of confidence throughout the bee.
Though Daglieri previously competed as a fifth grader, this is the first time she participated at the state level.
Daglieri correctly spelled dodge, standee, restaurant, mischief, excursion, casserole, unabated, auburn, boomslang, integument, cannoli, retinoscopy, and ventriloquy, finally winning with the championship work analepsis.
As part of the virtual bee, spellers were instructed to keep their hands in view of the camera to help prevent cheating. Daglieri used the setup to her advantage, tracing out each work as if she were writing it out to assist with the proper spelling.
The Valley Breeze sponsors the state bee, and the state champion speller’s trip to the National Spelling Bee. Other sponsors included Navigant Credit Union, Anchor Subaru/Nissan, Hunter Insurance, and Dave’s Marketplace.
Sue McKenna, an administrator at Immaculate Conception, said she was thrilled and proud of Daglieri for her performance.
Runner-up Andres Puerta, of Blackstone Valley Prep, made it 13 rounds with Daglieri, eventually missing on the word annihilate.
To that point, Puerta had spelled bagpipe, isolation, kindergarten, vaccination, frugal, jihad, nocturnal, buffet, hyrax, phosphorescent, aphasia, and drupiferous. Puerta will spell in Daglieri’s place should she not be able to compete at the national level.
The second runner-up, James MacDonald of Ricci Middle School in North Providence, spelled correctly for 12 rounds before missing on the word placoderm. MacDonald correctly spelled rules, cartoon, rubric, kosher, missive, attendee, besieged, bowsprit, and leviathan.
Locals Everett Webster of Lincoln Middle School and Kiara Laguerre of Gallagher Middle School in Smithfield made a strong showing through seven rounds before being knocked out in the eighth.
Webster spelled cheese, memes, cabbage, insomnia, escapade, frontier, celebratory and sophisticated before getting caught up on the word geocaching. Webster added an “e” after the “h,” and was knocked out of the competition.
Laguerre correctly spelled blurb, junior, carnation, acceptance, wearisome, brochure, and altercation. She misspelled protectorate in the eighth round.
All students showed good sportsmanship when knocked out, with most thanking pronouncer Kim Kalunian, of WPRI Channel 12, and judges for helping with the bee. Breeze Editor-in-Chief Ethan Shorey led a practice round, and the judges were Donna Morelle, former superintendent of schools in Cumberland, Leigh Martin, professor of English at CCRI, and Martha Correia, of Navigant. Breeze Publisher Jamie Quinn ran the technical aspects of the bee, making sure everyone was comfortable with the processes throughout.
Other spellers included: Serena Ya, Joaquin Arellano, Jannyah Calderson, Haider Rahim, Cassiopeia Nicolas, Luca Dorrien Traisci, Forrest McNamara, Richard Bond, Phillip Spradlin, Veronica Visconti, and Cienna McNamara.