ATLANTA –– They came from all corners of state: Paulding, Whitfield, Forsyth, Muscogee, Bibb, Wayne, Colquitt, and Grady counties and points in between. Twenty spellers ranging from 10 to 14 years old, from 3rd through 8th grades, all came with the same goal in mind — becoming Georgia’s next spelling champion.
After over 400 words over 18 rounds (including vocabulary), 10 year old, 4th grader Sarv Dharavane from Austin Elementary in DeKalb County emerged as the winner of the 63rd Annual Georgia Association of Educators (GAE) State Spelling Bee. He, along with runner-up, and last year’s champion, 14-year-old, 8th grader Matthew Baber from Rising Starr Middle School in Fayette County, will both represent Georgia in the Scripps National Spelling Bee Championships in National Harbor, Maryland, May 26-June 1, 2024.
In the 18th round, after going through words like metachronous, pithecology and recrudescent, Matthew received the word “collabent” but unfortunately misspelled it. Sarv then was given the word “Seoul,” which he spelled correctly and under the rules for the final two spellers, had to then spell an additional word correctly. That word was “dashiki,” which he nailed, and was subsequently crowned the 2024 Georgia State Spelling Bee champion.
“When I spelled my championship word right, I was nonplussed and elated at the same time,” said Sarv. “I love words, and back in November, when I heard there was a classroom spelling bee, I thought, ‘Why not?’” He added, “I couldn’t have done this without my teachers at Austin Elementary and GAE. Last but not least, I cannot thank my parents enough for helping me so much.”
Matthew, for his part, said, “I am looking forward to nationals. This year I will definitely need to prepare more. Vocabulary will be a challenge, so I have to review more word lists. However, I cannot ignore spelling, so I will review stems and language rules as well.”
GAE President Lisa Morgan said, “Congratulations to both Sarv and Matthew and all of these great young spellers. It is a joy to see how far they’ve come and the self-confidence they’ve exhibited in handling the pressure and competition. We, of course, wish the best of luck to our two spellers and their families as they travel to Maryland and the national championship.”
Sarv and Matthew received first and second place trophies, respectively. Both received an al-expenses-paid trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee and $1,000 (GAE), an Amazon Kindle Scribe (Horace Mann Insurance Companies), a $50 gift card (Best Buy of Cumming, GA), an online subscription dictionary (Merriam-Webster), a one-year online subscription to Epic Family (kids’ books, video and audiobooks), eight live, 1-on-1 online coding classes (Tynker), a one-year online subscription (Encyclopaedia Britannica), one 2024 U.S. Mint Proof Set (Samuel L. Sugarman Award) and a GAE Bee Champion lapel pin.
All contestants received a GAE State Bee participant lapel pin.
View contest pics at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gaecomm/albums/72177720315455512
Individual photos available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gaecomm/albums/72177720315420526/
