Meade Middle Student Finishes Third in Spelling Bee

A student from Meade Middle School placed third in the Anne Arundel County Spelling Bee over the weekend.

Promise Ohanyerenwa, an eighth grader, beat out 29 other students. 

The bee was ultimately won by Robin Roper of Severn River Middle School, who outdueled Olivia Simmons of Bates Middle School for the title. 

Roper won the bee by correctly spelling "wafflestomper." (A wafflestomper is a hiking boot with a lug sole.)

Roper  earned a trip to the national competition later this year.  Roper correctly spelled the word in the 39th round of the competition to win her the title.

That final round came only after a 27-round duel with defending spelling champion Olivia Simmons, of Bates Middle School, who finished second. Roper and Simmons dueled over the spelling of words such as, langlauf, troika, panglossian, and mynheer, for over an hour before Roper snagged the win with wafflestomper.

Congratulations to everyone who participated in this year's spelling bee. The top three spellers in this year's competition were:

1. Robin Roper, eighth-grade, Severn River Middle School
2. Olivia Simmons, eighth-grade, Bates Middle School
3. Promise Ohanyerenwa, eighth-grade, Meade Middle School

All contestants won a prize bag that contained gifts including a commemorative poster for the event, a certificate, and a $25 gift card from the 21st Century Education Foundation.

The top three finalists also received trophies and additional cash prizes.

As the bee's champion, Roper also won a Merrian-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, a one-year subscription to Brittanica Online for Kids, Webster's Third New International Dictionary, a Samuel Louis Sugarman Award certificate, an Amazon.com gift card, and a savings bond donated by Jay Sugarman, in honor of his father, a lifelong advocate of education.