4 River Oaks Students Competing In Regional Spelling Bee

HOUSTON, TX — Four students from four separate schools in the River Oaks and Galleria area will compete in the regional spelling bee Saturday with a chance to advance to the national spelling bee later next month.

The four local students are: Jayden Chen, a fourth grader at West University Elementary School; Shaun Israni, a fifth grader at River Oaks Elementary; Rebecca Luo, a fifth grader at Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet; and Brian Oliveira, a sixth grader at T. H. Rogers.

Ten HISD students are among 53 spellers who will compete in the nation’s largest regional spelling bee Saturday at Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan (2610 Elgin St., 77004).

The top two spellers will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., May 27-June 1.
Competitors representing grades 2-8 will come from 1,060 schools in 34 Texas counties to compete in the bee, which is hosted by Houston Public Media.

Live updates on the spelling bee will be available on the Houston Public Media Facebook page and on Twitter at @HoustonPubMedia. Final rounds and highlights of the spelling bee will be broadcast on TV 8 and streamed on houstonpublicmedia.org/spellingbee at 3:30 p.m. the following Saturday, April 14.

The 10 HISD spellers competing in the bee are:

• Oluwaseun Agbi, grade 4, Energized For Excellence Academy
• Naomi Canny, grade 8, Baylor College of Medicine Academy at James D. Ryan Middle
• Jayden Chen, grade 4, West University Elementary School
• Alanna Ferreon, grade 8, Pershing Middle School
• Shaun Israni, grade 5, River Oaks Elementary School
• Rebecca Luo, grade 5, Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet
• Brian Oliveira, grade 6, T. H. Rogers
• Anna Parker, grade 5, Poe Elementary School
• Oscar Portillo, grade 7, West Briar Middle School
• Amelie Rozowski, grade 5, Condit Elementary School

Top image: Spellers Jairam Jagadeesh Hathwar (L) of Painted Post, New York celebrates as Nihar Saireddy Janga (R) of Austin, Texas, looks on after he correctly spelled his word in the finals of the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee May 26, 2016 in National Harbor, Maryland. Both spellers were declared co-champions at the end of the annual spelling competition. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)