Merced City School District Student wins Regional Scripps Spelling Bee

The top spellers from across Merced County faced off in the Scripps Regional Spelling Bee on March 15, where Lawrence Ye from Hoover Middle School emerged as the top speller and Aanashra Afrooz from Cruickshank Middle School earned second place.

Ye, who also earned first place in the Merced County written spelling competition in December, will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. this May.

The regional competition, held at the UC Merced Lakireddy Auditorium, brought together more than 20 students from seven school districts, including Atwater Elementary, Los Banos Unified, Merced City, Merced River, Connecting Waters Charter, St. Paul Lutheran and Stone Ridge Christian.

Paul Loeffler was the pronouncer for the competition, bringing many years of experience as the National Competition’s analyst to the renewed Merced County event. Loeffler, who was also a Merced County Scripps Regional Champion, finished in the top 13 at the 1990 Scripps National Spelling Bee.  
Judges were Merced County Office of Education Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Laura Andrews, who also served as the word moderator for the Merced County Written Bee in December; and Merced County High School student Rishabh Saha, who finished in the top seven at last year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee.  

Sponsor Partners include UC Merced Office of Enrollment Management and Merced School Employees Federal Credit Union. These partnerships ensure that the top speller will receive travel and accommodations to stay at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center during Bee Week, the location of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.