2022 Chester County Spelling Bee Champion Katie Connolly from Charles F. Patton Middle School.
DOWNINGTOWN — Katie Connolly, an eighth grader at Charles F. Patton Middle School, took first place as Chester County’s top speller in the Chester County Spelling Bee on Monday, Feb. 7. Winning with the word “antenatus” (A-N-T-E-N-A-T-U-S), Connolly will move on to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in June. “I think it will be fun to go to Washington, D.C. and I’m looking forward to meeting other kids who are as passionate about this as I am,” Connolly said.
Pictured here are the first and second place winners of the 2022 Chester County Spelling Bee. From left to right: Sohum Bandyopadhyay, Anwen Deng, Katie Connolly, Joey Samaritano and Luke Spano.
During the event, one student representative from 34 schools spelled his or her way through 260 words. Each participant in the Chester County Spelling Bee earned the invitation to compete by winning their individual school’s spelling bee. Students prepared for the county competition by studying Scripps-provided word lists and practicing at home. Connolly said that reading was key to her success: “I have always enjoyed reading and spend a lot of my spare time reading. That has really helped with spelling.”
