Spelling Bee Buzz: Maddie Piecuch ’28 Moves on to State Championship
March 09, 2023
Before February break, Thetford Academy’s middle school English students were studying up for the school’s annual spelling bee, a qualifying event for Vermont’s Scripps State Spelling Bee in March. On February 20th, the top three spellers in each of the two seventh grade sections – along with interested 8th grade spellers – took the stage in the Martha Jane Rich Theater to compete for a spot at the state competition.
The event followed the Scripps rulebook, with increasingly difficult words chosen from Scripps official word list. Spellers must say the word, spell the word, and say the word again – and if the speller makes an error, they are not allowed to begin again. As the words got more challenging, eight of TA’s ten best middle school spellers were eliminated, leaving seventh grade students Maddie Piecuch and Stone Riegler as the final spellers on the stage.
When Stone went out on the word “temperature,” Maddie stepped up to spell the championship word and clinch the competition. With the correct spelling of the word “peevish,” Maddie won the contest and earned a spot in the Vermont State Spelling Bee!
The State Bee will take place on March 21st from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the newly renovated Montpelier High School Auditorium. The winner of the event will have the opportunity to advance to the 2023 Scripps National Bee in National Harbor, Maryland. Congratulations, Maddie and best of luck in Montpelier!