SMSD Student Wins County Spelling Bee

Ishya Bhavsar, eighth grader from Indian Hills Middle School is the winner of the 2021 Johnson County Spelling Bee.

She earned the championship title after correctly spelling the word onomatopoeia.

Bhavsar will advance to the state spelling bee, scheduled to take place in Wichita in late March.

This year, competitors entered the bee using an online testing format. Then, a Championship Session was held for the top eight participants in the county.

Spelling Bee coordinator Christy Rottinghaus congratulated the champions for their hard work and dedication and everyone who coordinated the opportunity for students despite many obstacles this year.

Here is a look at Shawnee Mission competitors in the countywide bee:

Hocker Grove Middle School: Yeliannis Perez and Rommel Barajas Herrera

Indian Hills Middle School: Ishya Bhavsar  and Shubra Durgavathi

Indian Woods Middle School: Landon Bonnett

Westridge Middle School: Nathan Mestel and Brendan Hunn

Bluejacket-Flint: Bobby Brown and Casher Mitchell

Broken Arrow: Hadley Rowell and Andrew Ziegler

Corinth: Mira McInnes and Jillian Divadeenam

Crestview: Shiloh Nelson and Sophia Bigler

East Antioch: Ruby Pye and Hadley Walker

Merriam Park: Ava Creasser and Marissa Tate

Mill Creek: Max Vanlandingham and Jonathan Downey

Ray Marsh: Paige Swanson and Erin O’Neal

Rhein Bennninghoven: Joseph Candelario and Eli Cohen

Roesland: Maria Echeverria and Ceci Franco

Rushton: Tillie Kuhl and Isalina Colorado