Schools

Severn River Middle School Student Wins Bee with 'Wafflestomper'

Robin Roper, an eighth-grader from Severn River Middle School in Arnold, won the 25th annual Anne Arundel County spelling bee with the word "wafflestomper" on Saturday.

Robin Roper, of Severn River Middle School in Arnold, beat out 31 other top spellers in the Anne Arundel County spelling bee this weekend with her winning word, "wafflestomper."

Roper, an eighth-grader, won the 25th annual Anne Arundel County Spelling Bee and earned a trip to the national competition later this year. Her final word, wafflestomper, is a hiking boot with a lug sole. Roper correctly spelled the word in the 39th round of the competition to win her the title.

That final round came only after a 27-round duel with defending spelling champion Olivia Simmons, of Bates Middle School, who finished second. Roper and Simmons dueled over the spelling of words such as, langlauf, troika, panglossian, and mynheer, for over an hour before Roper snagged the win with wafflestomper.

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Congratulations to everyone who participated in this year's spelling bee. The top three spellers in this year's competition were:

  1. Robin Roper, eighth-grade, Severn River Middle School
  2. Olivia Simmons, eighth-grade, Bates Middle School
  3. Promise Ohanyerenwa, eighth-grade, Meade Middle School

All contestants won a prize bag that contained gifts including a commemorative poster for the event, a certificate, and a $25 gift card from the 21st Century Education Foundation.

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The top three finalists also received trophies and additional cash prizes.

As the bee's champion, Roper also won a Merrian-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, a one-year subscription to Brittanica Online for Kids, Webster's Third New International Dictionary, a Samuel Louis Sugarman Award certificate, an Amazon.com gift card, and a savings bond donated by Jay Sugarman, in honor of his father, a lifelong advocate of education.


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