Your news: Winston Junior High boy wins Dist. 15 bee

It took 24 rounds of head-to-head competition, but Jonathan Matthew, an eighth-grader at Winston Campus Junior High, successfully defended his title as District 15's top speller.

Jonathan won his third consecutive District 15 Spelling Bee on Monday, Jan. 24, at Walter R. Sundling Junior High. He fended off a game challenge by second-place finisher Jennie Yang, an eighth-grader at Plum Grove Junior High, by correctly spelling the word rhinoceros.

Jonathan and Jennie both won their respective school spelling bees to advance to the District competition, as did 18 other students: Rose Clement, Grade 5, Jane Addams School; Naman Agarwal, Grade 6, Central Road School; Timothy Moran, Grade 5, Hunting Ridge School; Vetrie Senthilkumar, Grade 6, Thomas Jefferson School; Bill Gao, Grade 4, Marion Jordan School; Jessica Gul, Grade 6, Lake Louise School; Neil Patel, Grade 4, Lincoln School; Mayuri Srikanth, Grade 5, Stuart R. Paddock School; John McDonnell, Grade 5, Pleasant Hill School; Reil Snow, Grade 6, Gray M. Sanborn School; Megan Raby, Grade 6, Virginia Lake School; Celine Cushman, Grade 5, Frank C. Whiteley School; Akshaya Kannan, Grade 6, Willow Bend School; Natalia Koval, Grade 5, Winston Campus Elementary; Lisa Roldan, Grade 8, Carl Sandburg Junior High; and Jessica Lu, Grade 7, Walter R. Sundling Junior High. Note: Some names withheld due to requests for privacy.

For the past two years, Jonathan has performed well enough in the Suburban Cook Northern Area Spelling Bee to earn a spot in the Suburban Cook County Spelling Bee, where he has finished in third place each time. His goal this year is to win the Suburban Cook County Spelling Bee and advance to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which will be held June 1 and 2 in Washington, D.C.

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