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STAMFORD, Conn. Sixth-graders Shrenik Kankaria and Sarthak Behl won Cloonan Middle Schools first ever Spelling Bee on Monday afternoon and will go on to represent their school at the state competition.
Though the Stamford students were happy to be the final two, they have their sights set on higher hopes than just the state bee.
Were going to go represent the school and hopefully go on to nationals together, Sarthak said of the state competition, which will be held at Western Connecticut State University. In the school bee, Shrenik outlasted Sarthak, who slipped up on the word tertiary after many back-and-forth rounds between them.
The conclusion of the Cloonan bee could not have been better for the two friends, who have spent the past couple of months practicing together with a spelling teacher. This was really, really great, Shrenik said of coming out victorious with his friend.
Their practice showed: They first had to out-spell nine of their fellow classmates with increasingly difficult words. Once the two finalists rattled off a few words, Assistant Principal Laureen Mody switched the bee to a lightning round format, where the duo just had to spell the word and could not ask questions in the interest of time.
Theyve worked really hard for over two months, Mody said. She also said the contest was just one of several sports for the brain the school tries to hold.
In addition to Cloonan, three other schools in Stamford officially participated at the local level, the Scripps National Spelling Bee website said. The others were Dolan Middle School, Newfield Elementary School and Stillmeadow Elementary School.
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