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Western Springs girl wins regional spelling bee
Spelling Bee champion Alia Abiad, from McClure Junior High, gets a congratulatory high-five Feb. 7 at the regional spelling bee. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 15, 2013 11:21AM
WESTERN SPRINGS — Representing McClure Junior High School, seventh-grader Alia Abiad took top honors Feb. 7 over top spellers from 14 other western Cook County schools.
“She’s unbelievable,” said McClure Principal Dan Chick after Alia smoked her competition in Western Springs Elementary District 101.
“When you get down to the final two spellers, they have to spell two words in a row correctly,” Chick explained. “And when you get to that stage, usually you go back and forth. Alia is one of the few students we’ve had who didn’t misspell a word for the entire bee.”
Also competing was Eleanor Tung-Hahn from St. Francis Xavier School in La Grange.
Chick said the district was excited to be hosting regional competition for the first time, previously held at Mannheim Middle School in Franklin Park.
The next round also will be held at McClure on Feb. 21 featuring the top three finishers from three suburban Cook County regions. The winner advances to the national level in Washington, D.C.
“I’m excited about our winner having the home field advantage,” Chick said.
Jon Langham contributed to this story.
