On January 16, Paradise Valley High School held the annual District Spelling Bee for students in grades four through eight. The event brought together top student spellers from across the district to compete for a chance to advance to the regional competition and potentially reach the Arizona State Spelling Bee.
Dr. Dan Courson, Acting Superintendent, welcomed attendees and thanked both Paradise Valley High School and volunteers for their roles in organizing the event. He addressed the students with words of encouragement.
The competition required participants to study an extensive list of spelling words, including those from the School Spelling Bee study list and approximately 4,000 words from the Words of Champions list.
Paradise Valley Unified School District recognized all students who competed at both school and district levels. “PVSchools is proud of all the students who competed at the preliminary school and district levels. And a big congratulations to our district winner, Rohit Swaroop, an 8th grader from Sunrise Middle School, and Runner-Up, Samarth Bokkasa, a 6th grader from North Ranch Elementary!”
Rohit Swaroop won first place while Samarth Bokkasa was named runner-up. Both will join six other delegates—Shubha Kulkarni (Sky Crossing Elementary), Demi Sarigiannides (Mountain Trail Middle), Malachi Hawkins (Desert Shadows Elementary), Liam Yount (Wildfire Elementary), Lea Walters (Sonoran Sky), and Ava Dailey (Liberty)—at the Region II Spelling Bee on February 9.
The Arizona State Spelling Bee is scheduled for March 21, 2026. The state champion will have an opportunity to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May.
A full list of winners includes:
– Winner: Rohit Swaroop – Sunrise Middle School (8th Grade)
– Runner-Up: Samarth Bokkasa – North Ranch Elementary School (6th Grade)
– Delegates: Shubha Kulkarni – Sky Crossing Elementary (5th Grade); Demi Sarigiannides – Mountain Trail Middle School (8th Grade); Malachi Hawkins – Desert Shadows Elementary (6th Grade); Liam Yount – Wildfire Elementary (4th Grade); Lea Walters – Sonoran Sky (5th Grade); Ava Dailey – Liberty (6th Grade)
