Knightly News

Middle School was abuzz with excitement for the annual Spelling Bee in the Visual & Performing Arts Center. After 32 rounds, the following students were the top spellers:

1st – Aryav Mehta (8th)

2nd – Armaan Nair (8th)

3rd – Slyvia Weng (6th)

A New Tradition Inspires Students and Faculty

Since the start of the school year, students and faculty have invested considerable time and energy into preparing for the Spelling Bee. After classroom-level competitions, the winners advanced to the full Middle School division competition. This year’s winner, Aryav, now advances to the Regional Bee on March 8th, with the winner of that competition moving on to the National Bee, which is televised on ESPN. A fan of the national spelling bee, Aryav was thrilled with the Middle School Spelling Bee experience. The Spelling Bee is a hobby for him, and he says he enjoys competing with others. He studied for three years in preparation for the big day, and the effort paid off. In the 32nd round, Aryav correctly spelled “stricken” to become the 2025 Middle School Spelling Bee Champion. He is sure to represent Episcopal well on the regional level next month.

The Spelling Bee excitement permeates all levels of Middle School. With such enthusiasm, it is clear that the division has discovered a new tradition that is here to stay. “I cherish tradition,” says Division Head Anne Dalton. “Middle School is filled with enjoyable rites of passage – like the 7th grade trip, the MO-Ranch adventure, rock-paper-scissors competitions, MS Olympics, and field day. Events like these acknowledge their passions. We don’t just want students to fit in; we want them to belong – and traditions help foster that sense of community.”

Life Lessons One Word at a Time

Not only does the Spelling Bee celebrate community, but students also learn valuable life lessons. English teacher Scott Stephenson, who organized the bee and served as pronouncer, shares why he believes such experiences have tremendous value.

“To be honest, I was actually a bit skeptical of the whole concept of spelling bees when I first became involved in 2015. I wondered, with the advent of spell check, does spelling even matter any more? The first time I announced the upcoming classroom bee, my students were even more skeptical. But both the students and I came around quickly once we actually experienced the bee. It turned out that it was quite fun for everyone involved, and better yet, my students were learning all kinds of important lessons without even realizing it.

The most obvious thing they learned was new vocabulary. The spelling bee is full of all sorts of unfamiliar words – muttonchops, circumspectly, grosgrain – that students were encountering for the first time. There are words that they’ve maybe only seen in print, but have never heard pronounced before, like eulogy. There were words like Byzantine, louis d’or, and Canterbury that require students to make historical connections. And they even get a chance to hear the correct context for words like aesthetic, which they have only heard before misused on social media.

But there are some other equally important lessons that have nothing to do with the words. One of these is the connection between studying and results. Because the words in the first several rounds of a spelling bee come from the word list, it becomes immediately obvious to everyone who has studied and who has not. But beyond that, the depth of preparation becomes apparent to everyone. When Aryav spelled Samhain (pronounced sah-win) in the 24th round, or when Armaan followed that up by spelling chlorofluorocarbon, the murmurs of disbelief from the audience were audible from my spot at the podium. Everyone could tell, these two hadn’t just glanced over the word list, they had invested some serious time and effort. I think that seeing this direct connection between time spent preparing and results is especially important for middle school students. They’re really only just beginning to learn how to study, and experiencing for themselves the direct correlation between preparation and results is an invaluable lesson.

I also think that the importance of resilience and perseverance is another important lesson that the bee teaches. The students are always worried that they’re going to be embarrassed when they misspell a word, but I remind them that, in a class of 18 students, there will be 17 of them who misspell a word eventually. They come to realize that sometimes things don’t go as planned, but their classmates are facing the same challenges. Last year, after all of his efforts to bring the spelling bee to Episcopal, Aryav lost before he even made it to the school competition. He was devastated. But instead of giving up, he redoubled his efforts and came back to win the whole competition this year.

Beyond its educational benefits, the spelling bee is also important because it provides a chance to honor students for non-athletic achievements. It allows our school to show that we value competition beyond sports. It gives us an opportunity to celebrate academic excellence and recognize students' talents that might otherwise go unnoticed."

It's always rewarding to see students engaged and enthusiastic about learning. The magic of the Middle School Spelling Bee showcases a commitment to learning and community that makes Episcopal so special. Congratulations to this year’s winners, and thank you to everyone who made this moment possible.

The Episcopal School of Baton Rouge 2025-2026 application is now available! ​For more information on the application process, to schedule a tour, or learn more about the private school, contact us at [email protected] or 225-755-2685.