A District Champion is Crowned

On Friday, January 16, Paradise Valley High School hosted the top 4th through 8th-grade student spellers in the annual District Spelling Bee. The accomplished spellers gathered to compete for the opportunity to advance to the regional competition, with the ultimate goal of reaching the Arizona State Spelling Bee.

Dr. Dan Courson, Acting Superintendent, extended a warm welcome to the students, staff, and parents. He offered words of encouragement to the students and expressed his gratitude to Paradise Valley High School and the volunteers for their efforts in making the exciting event a success.

The spelling competition was intensely challenging, reserved only for the truly determined. Students had to memorize a substantial School Spelling Bee study list and also be familiar with the roughly 4,000 words on the Words of Champions list.

PVSchools is proud of all the students who competed at the preliminary school and district levels. And a big congratulations to our district winner, Rohit Swaroop, an 8th grader from Sunrise Middle School, and Runner-Up, Samarth Bokkasa, a 6th grader from North Ranch Elementary!

Rohit and Samarth, along with six other PVSchools delegates, will compete in the Region II Spelling Bee on February 9. The Arizona State Spelling Bee is scheduled for March 21, 2026. The winner of the state competition will then move on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May.

Congrats again to the eight students below!
 

Winner

Rohit Swaroop - Sunrise M/S  (8th Grade)

Runner-Up

Samarth Bokkasa - North Ranch E/S  (6th Grade)

Delegates

• Shubha Kulkarni - Sky Crossing E/S (5th Grade)
• Demi Sarigiannides - Mountain Trail M/S (8th Grade)
• Malachi Hawkins - Desert Shadows E/S (6th Grade)
• Liam Yount - Wildfire E/S (4th Grade)
• Lea Walters - Sonoran Sky (5th Grade)
• Ava Dailey - Liberty (6th Grade)