WESTFIELD—When 9-year-old Shalini Sundararajan was asked if winning the Words with Friends Spelling Bee in front of a filled auditorium of rapt onlookers was difficult, she didn’t think so.
Sundararajan from Munger Hill School was the winner of the seventh annual Words with Friends city-wide spelling last night, which took place at Westfield State University. Sundararajan was one of 14 students from seven city schools that took the stage to compete in the orthographic battle. The students were spelling words to win prizes, including a Kindle Fire, as well to be named the top speller.
“I feel good, it wasn’t hard,” Sundararajan said of the competition.
Shalini Sundararajan (center) poses with the trophy that goes to the student’s winning school. Flanking her (from left to right): Sal Frieri, Principal of Munger Hill School, Chris Manfredi, Assistant Principal of Munger Hill School, Sundara Rajan, father, Stephanie Martell, the winner’s teacher, Suvin Sundararajan, and Mythili Sundararajan, her mother.
The event occurred at Dever Stage at Westfield State University, with many family members, educators and others in attendance for the tense battle. Students represented a combination of fourth and fifth grades from Abner Gibbs, Franklin Avenue, Highland Avenue, Munger Hill, Paper Mill, Southampton Road and Russell Schools.
Among the 13 other students Sundararajan faced off against were the final three she competed against for the win: Samantha Dorion from Abner Gibbs School, Ayesha Azhar of Franklin Avenue School and Ayden Moquin of Highland School.
During the final four, Moquin was the first eliminated from the final four, after the tricky word “acoustic” tripped him up.
After that, Sundararajan, Azhar and Dorion competed for several rounds, spelling a total of 11 words right before Azhar stumbled on the word “enhance,” putting her in third place.
Then, it was down to two—Sundararajan and Dorion.
The view from the back of the auditorium during the seventh annual Words with Friends spelling bee.
The two students went word-for-word, spelling 17 words right in a row between them. Then, Dorion missed “embassy,” leaving it up to Sundararajan to spell “hostile” correct.
Sundararajan missed though, and the two had to continue.
They each spelled one more word correct before Dorion struggled with “institution.”
That opened the door for Sundararajan to spell “institution” correctly, followed by “enormous” for the win.
Sundararajan’s parents, her father Sundara Rajan and her mother Mythili Sundararajan, shared smiles as they noted how proud they were of their daughter.
“I’m real proud,” Rajan said, adding that he felt that the program was good for the city.
“All the kids who came here were all amazing,” he added.
“We’re so happy for her,” Mythili Sundararajan said.
According to the winner’s parents, she spent about two hours a day studying for two to three weeks.
Her brother, Suvin Sundararajan, said that he helped her study, as well.
“She studied so much every day and she enjoyed it,” he said.
The contestants for the seventh annual Words with Friends spelling bee.
All finalists received medals for making it to the final round of the city-wide spelling bee. In addition, first place received a Kindle Fire with a case, while second and third place-spellers received a variety of games and books.
The complete list of finalists was as follows: Samantha Dorion and Morgan Gagnon from Abner Gibbs; Ayesha Azhar and Lucy McKeague from Franklin Avenue; Ayden Moquin and Jaeden Smith from Highland; Skyler Dansereau and Jake Geoffrey from Russell; Lucas Bascom and Shalini Sundararajan from Munger Hill; Luke Bulan and Aliya Carthon from Paper Mill; and Colleen Pescitelli and Natalia Thorne from Southampton Road.
The judges for the contest were George Delisle, Fr. Joseph Soltysiak, Amanda Brodkin and Bob Plasse, and moderator was past Kiwanis Club President Adam Wright.
The event was sponsored by MedExpress of Westfield. Its organization was done by the Circle K Club, an affiliate of the larger Kiwanis Club, as well as assistance from the Volunteers in Public Schools Program.
