Corona Student Cinches Record Fourth Win at RivCo Spelling Bee

MORENO VALLEY (CNS) - A Corona eighth-grader today claimed an
unprecedented fourth consecutive victory in the Riverside County Spelling Bee,
winning the title of champion speller and a spot at the national bee in May.
   Aisha Randhawa from Auburndale Intermediate School in the Corona-Norco
Unified School District took top honors after 30 rounds of spelling at the
Moreno Valley Conference & Recreation Center.
   Dartmouth Middle School eighth-grader Ernie Ordaniel, representing the
Hemet Unified School District, made it into the final round with Aisha,
giving her the edge after he misspelled ``innumerable,'' according to county
Office of Education spokesman Craig Petinak.
   He said Aisha correctly spelled ``accusatory,'' and then clinched the
title with her accurate spelling of ``authoritarianism.''
   A total of 29 youths in grades 4-8 competed in the 42nd annual bee.
   Ernie took second place, while seventh-grader Hope Edwards of the San
Jacinto Leadership Academy in the San Jacinto Unified School District came in
third, and fourth-grader Dylan Lee from the Washington Charter School in the
Desert Sands Unified School District came in fourth.
   Aisha will represent the county in the 92nd annual Scripps National
Spelling Bee, set for May 26-31 in Oxon Hill, Maryland. It will be her fourth
appearance.
   Students from public schools competed with their peers from charter
and private schools in the county event.