Somerset County Spell-Off at SCLS

The Somerset County Library System (SCLS) hosted the annual Somerset County Spell-Off for children in grades 4 – 8, Friday, March 15 at the Bridgewater Library.

“This is an exciting opportunity to showcase the academic strengths of Somerset County middle grade students,” noted Rebecca Crawford Youth Services Department Head.

A total of 18 students from six schools sent students to the Spell-Off including:
• Branchburg Central Middle School
• Far Hills County Day School
• Montgomery Lower Middle School
• Montgomery Upper Middle School
• School of St. Elizabeth (Bernardsville)
• Stony Brook Elementary School (Branchburg)

Seventh grader speller Srividhi Ramakrishna, Montgomery Upper Middle School finished first after going 14 rounds head-to-head with Meghan Moran, Branchburg Central Middle who finished second.  All the students were excited, well-behaved and good sports. They were awarded certificates and the winner received a dictionary to encourage her love of words.

Students finished in the following order. If they were eliminated in the same round, they are tied for that place:

Place/Name	School	Grade
10. Angelos Psathas	Stony Brook School, Branchburg	Grade 4
10. Tripp Robinson	Far Hills Country Day	Grade 4
9. Christian Agathis	Far Hills Country Day	Grade 4
9. Gabe Palmieri	Branchburg Central Middle School	Grade 8
8. Sophie Belkin	Stony Brook School, Branchburg	Grade 5
8. Sarah Martinez	School of St. Elizabeth, Bernardsville	Grade 5
8. Pranav Saboo	Montgomery Lower Middle School	Grade 6
8. Rajan Tripathi	Montgomery Lower Middle School	Grade 5
7. Caroline Evans	Branchburg Central Middle School	Grade 8
7. Emma McGee	School of St. Elizabeth, Bernardsville	Grade 7
7. Catherine Olson	Far Hills Country Day	Grade 5
6. Rory Ewing	Far Hills Country Day	Grade 5
6. Sterling Shieh	Far Hills Country Day	Grade 6
5. Anil Kamdar	Stony Brook School, Branchburg	Grade 5
4. Jason Seeley	Stony Brook School, Branchburg	Grade 4
3. Emma Corazza	School of St. Elizabeth, Bernardsville	Grade 8
2. Megan Moran	Branchburg Central Middle School	Grade 7
1. Srividhi Ramakrishna	Montgomery Upper Middle School	Grade 7

Suzanne Updegrove, the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) and Enrichment teacher at Branchburg Central Middle School coordinated the event.  Brian Auger, the director of SCLS, served as the pronouncer.

Patrons with further questions can call SCLS at (908) 526-4016 or visit the website at http://www.sclsnj.org.  The Somerset County Library System has branches in Bridgewater, Bound Brook, Hillsborough, Manville, at the Mary Jacobs Library in Rocky Hill, North Plainfield, Peapack & Gladstone, Somerville, Warren Township and Watchung.