Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Dust off your dictionaries. It’s time for the New Mexico Spelling Bee.
Several local students are eligible to compete at this year’s state bee, taking place on Saturday in Albuquerque.
Jaxon Bender, 10, and Jorge Barraza, 14, of Clovis, Timothy Roybal, 10, of Fort Sumner, Saisravya Bandla, 14, of San Jon and Brock Fowler, 13, of Floyd qualified to represent the region at their district spelling bees.
They are among the 46 students from across the state who are eligible to compete this year for the top spelling prize in the Land of Enchantment.
The winner crowned on Saturday in Albuquerque will earn a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., scheduled May 27 to June 1.
The national bee offers opportunities to win multiple prizes.
Saisravya competed at the state bee in 2016 and 2017 and will be joined by six other returning competitors, according to New Mexico Spelling Bee Coordinator Karen Kehe.
Jaxon, Jorge, Timothy, Saisravya and Brock earned their spots in the state bee by correctly spelling panegyric, mizzle, imperative, excruciating and refugee, respectively.
Last year’s New Mexico winner was Akilan Sankaran of Albuquerque, who is not competing this year.
Area residents have fared well at the state bee as of late. Ariel Kokoricha of Clovis won the state bee in 2013 and 2016.
The state spelling bee is free to attend and begins at 9 a.m. at Sandia Preparatory School in Albuquerque. The event will also be live-streamed for the first time by the Albuquerque Journal on Facebook.
