We LOVE to celebrate our students’ successes on AND off the court! Congratulations to our very own Riya on her participation in the National Spelling Bee! Check out the press release below!
Press Release
Over eleven million students worldwide participated in the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Five hundred and sixty-five were selected to attend and compete in the competition where fifty finalists were selected to compete in the finals, which was broadcasted on ESPN. Riya Koya, a 5th grader from Orchard Park Elementary School, was just shy, ranking fifty-first in the national finals.
Riya won her school spelling bee with the winning word “ligatures.” She won the Hamilton County Spelling Bee after fifty-six rounds, a record number. Her championship word was “sarsaparilla.”
Williams Comfort Air sponsored Riya’s trip to Washington D.C to attend the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Apart from sponsoring her, Suzi Nichols, the marketing manager of Williams Comfort Air, also assisted her in preparation for the national spelling bee. Riya’s teachers, Heidi Wilson and Alicia Parent, as well as school principal Rhonda Turner, supported her in her spelling bee endeavors as well. She has already begun to prepare for the 2020 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Apart from her academic interests, Riya loves to play tennis. Riya believes that much of her competition, resilience, and courage comes from competing on the tennis court and the life lessons she learned from her dedicated tennis coach, Jeff Smith. In the fall, Riya will be attending Carmel Middle School.
