“The students show an impressive amount of determination at this event each year,” said Patricia Dal Santo, Regional Superintendent at the Kane County Regional Office of Education. “The amount of effort put into preparing for a regional is a feat itself. Scripps provides a study guide featuring 4,000 words for students to familiarize, and watching them succeed as they test their spelling acumen among their peers from Kane County is always gratifying.” 

Participants, who ranged from elementary to middle school age, each received a swag bag from the Regional Office of Education and a certificate of participation. Other spellers included Gianna Chiarito (St. Peter School, Geneva), Lauren Harte (Holy Cross Catholic School, Batavia), Emmett Rigertas (Thompson Middle School, St. Charles), Eric Suhayda (Kaneland John Shields Elementary, Sugar Grove), Andrew Taing (St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School, Hampshire), Joseph Tejada (Hampshire Middle School, Hampshire), and Cristian Varney (St. Catherine of Siena Elementary, West Dundee).

With the win, Mohammed can participate in what Scripps calls “Bee Week”, a week-long experience for students and their families with special events, educational workshops, excursions into Washington D.C., and more. The national competition begins with preliminaries on Tuesday, May 28 and concludes with Finals on Thursday, May 30.