M-U-L-T-I-P-L-I-C-A-T-I-O-N was the winning word for 8th grader Dana Davis at the 41st Annual West Haven School District Spelling Bee for grades 5-8 held on Jan. 20. Davis, the school champion from Harry Bailey Middle School School, defeated seven other competitors including the May V Carrigan Intermediate School Spelling Bee Champion, 5th Grader Martha Agustin.
Superintendent of Schools Neil C. Cavallaro supervised the event, carefully reading out each of the words from the 2020 Scripps Spelling Competition List.
Judging the event were veteran spelling bee coordinators Jamey Sitro from Carrigan with teachers Sean Griffin and Matthew DiGoia from Bailey.
The individual school PTAs awarded $50 Barnes and Noble gift certificates to their school winners. This year’s event was dedicated to the memory of Ralph Eberle, former PTA Chairperson for West Haven Schools. Davis and Agustin will be invited to the Connecticut statewide competition representing their schools which will be sponsored by the Noah Webster House Historical Society in West Hartford.