Milpitas Unified School District buzzes with excitement for first annual Spelling Bee

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MILPITAS, CA - Milpitas Unified was buzzing with excitement this week, as 21 students from across the school district participated in the first annual Spelling Bee Tuesday night at Rose Elementary School. Brianna Nguyen, a fourth grader from the school, climbed to the top with the winning word: pertinacity. Brianna not only spelled the winning word correctly, but dictated the bonus word - castellated - perfectly.

Ari George Philip, a fourth grader from Sinnott, earned second place while Eshan Farooque, a sixth grader from Spangler, earned third place. Both Brianna and Ari will represent Milpitas at the Santa Clara County Office of Education Spelling Bee on February 4.

“We celebrated not just the students' accomplishment with their families but with the rest of us,” said Raquel Kusunoki, Director of Elementary Education, which coordinated the event. “To me, that is what community is about - It's about bringing everyone together which truly exemplifies a ‘culture of we,’”

Superintendent Cheryl Jordan served as the Head Judge while Board Members Chris Norwood, Hon Lien, and Robert Jung were judges and Board President Daniel Bobay was the pronouncer.

"It was a wonderful opportunity for our children to experience an event where our community, educators, and Board Members came together to celebrate our children,” Kusunoki added. “What I saw was a community coming together which is an achievement in itself.”

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