Education

2023-2024 Tomball ISD Spelling Bee Champions Crowned

December 01 2023

Tomball ISD students representing campuses across the district took part in the annual District Spelling Bee and Spanish Spelling Bee Competitions, hosted at the Tomball Event Center. Three overall winners were crowned, representing the District Spelling Bee and both the Elementary and Secondary Spanish Spelling Bee.

District Spelling Bee

Creekside Park Junior High student and 2-time reigning National Spelling Bee participant Ishika Varipilli captured a first place finish at the District Spelling Bee. She competed through 16 rounds and took home top honors after spelling ‘cauterize’ correctly. She is now a 5-time District Spelling Bee winner.

Willow Wood Junior High’s Maanit Patel took second and Tomball Intermediate student Brendan Nguyen took third.

The District Spelling Bee featured campus winners from across the district who participated at their respective school and earned a spot to compete for an overall crown.

As the District’s overall winner, Ishika Varipilli will move on to the area level and represent Tomball ISD at the Houston Public Media Spelling Bee later this year. From there, the top spellers of the Houston Public Media Spelling Bee will advance to the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee; expenses paid by Houston Public Media. The 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee is planned for National Harbor, Maryland, the week of Memorial Day.

Campus Champions - Spelling Bee

Canyon Pointe Elementary - Karthick Sivakumar
Creekside Forest Elementary - Reeva Nevaskar
1ST - Creekside Park Junior High - Ishika Varipilli
Creekview Elementary - Dhruv Arun
Decker Prairie Elementary - Brayden Alfaro
Grand Lakes Junior High - Troy Douglas
Grand Oaks Elementary - Pia Vaidya
Lakewood Elementary - Jonathan Mathews
Northpointe Intermediate - Dheeraj Kumar
Oakcrest Intermediate - Manthan Panchal
Rosehill Elementary - Matthew Breaux
Timber Creek Elementary - Cole Obrock
Tomball Elementary - Kylle Gonzales
3RD - Tomball Intermediate - Brendan Nguyen
Tomball Junior High - Luke Guillot
Wildwood Elementary - Kavya Balamurugesh
Willow Creek Elementary - Ifrah Zahid
2ND - Willow Wood Junior High - Maanit Patel

District Spanish Spelling Bees

Oakcrest Intermediate fifth grade student Oriana Pineda captured the top finish in the Spanish Spelling Bee for Grades 3-5. Pineda spelled the final word, ‘anglohablante’ correctly in an impressive 38 rounds.

Following in second place and third place, respectively, were Canyon Pointe third grade student Elena Vargus Almodovar and Northpointe Intermediate fifth grade student Hector Hinestroza Faria.

Campus Champions - Spanish Spelling Bee, Grades 3-5

2ND - Canyon Pointe Elementary - Elena Vargas Almodovar
Canyon Pointe Elementary - Victoria Rivera Zapata
Canyon Pointe Elementary - Jane Manzano Viveros
Lakewood Elementary - Ricardo Castellanos Pliego
Rosehill Elementary - Marco Montes Lemus
Rosehill Elementary - Sydney Barnett
Rosehill Elementary - Vanessa Salas
Timber Creek Elementary - Claudia Garcia de Albizu Ibanez
Timber Creek Elementary - Rodrigo Caballero Madero
Timber Creek Elementary - Lara Sanchez Ruiz
3RD - Northpointe Intermediate - Hector Hinestroza Faria
1ST - Oakcrest Intermediate - Oriana Pineda
Oakcrest Intermediate - Venecia Villalobos
Oakcrest Intermediate - Anabella Suarez Rosales
Tomball Intermediate - Zoe Mata Ortiz
Tomball Intermediate - Ian Powery
Tomball Intermediate - Monserrath Abularach Tovias

Grand Lakes Junior High eighth grade student Linda Farias captured the top finish in the Spanish Spelling Bee, grades 6-8. She spelled the winning word, ‘pealada’ correctly in 18 rounds.

Following in second place and third place, respectively, were Grand Lakes Junior High eighth grade student Alejandro Alvarado Moya and Willow Wood Junior High eighth grade student Isabel Jerez Weir.