Penn Spell Bowl earns berth in State Championships

Penn High School’s Spell Bowl Team, coached by Kate O’Brien, qualified for the 2018 State Championships by scoring an 82 at the Plymouth Regional on Saturday, Oct. 26.

Penn will compete for a State Championship on Saturday, Nov. 10, at the Loeb Playhouse on the University of Purdue campus. Competition is set to begin at 10:45 a.m.

Manaal Arif, Deena Baki, Yewon Oh, Abbie Hembrecht and JR Roach spelled perfectly for the Kingsmen in the Plymouth Regional. Oumayma Al-Shamary Erika Kalamaros, Matthew Zheng turned in near perfect efforts.

“I am so proud of all this team has accomplished!” O’Brien said. “They have dedicated hours and hours of practice time, and I am so excited with how it's paid for them!

“Spelling 82 out of 90 words is an impressive feat, and we beat our team goal of 80 (at state)!” O’Brien continued. “We are thrilled to be competing for state again, and are hopeful to bring home a State Title!”