Callum Warden wins District 181 spelling bee; students advance to county competition
A group of 18 students from each school in Hinsdale Community Consolidated School District 181 recently participated in the district's annual spelling bee. The event brought together top spellers who had previously won their respective school competitions earlier in the semester.
Callum Warden, representing Hinsdale Middle School, emerged as the winner after correctly spelling "contraband." Jay Misha from Elm School took second place. Both students will advance to represent District 181 at the county-level spelling bee later this semester.
The third-place position was shared by Pranith Subramanian from The Lane School and Maya Trivedi from Monroe School.
District 181 acknowledged all participants for their efforts. “District 181 proudly recognizes all 18 participants for their hard work and stellar performance in the District 181 Spelling Bee. Congratulations to all the students who competed,” a statement read.
The participating schools included Clarendon Hills Middle School, Elm Elementary School, Hinsdale Middle School, Madison Elementary School, Monroe Elementary School, Oak Elementary School, Prospect Elementary School, The Lane Elementary School, and Walker School. All these schools are part of District 181, which serves DuPage and Cook counties (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
According to data from the Illinois State Board of Education, District 181 employs 282 teachers with an average salary of $94,227 before pension contributions; about 90 percent are women and 10 percent are men. There are no teachers in the district with more than ten absences per year (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). The student population is approximately 69.8 percent White, 1.1 percent Black, 6.8 percent Hispanic, and 15.4 percent Asian (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). In fiscal year 2020, spending per student was $31,308 for a total expenditure of $117 million (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
The full list of competitors included: Callum Warden and Adam Hai (Hinsdale Middle), Everett Matthews and Jackson Blyth (Clarendon Hills Middle), Jay Misha and Adamma Oguejiofor (Elm), Addeline Johnson and Evan Tataris (Madison), Maya Trivedi and Addy Jacobs (Monroe), Kishan Barad and Ray Choy (Oak), Sabrina Turano and Connor Westberg (Prospect), Pranith Subramanian and Max Larson (The Lane), Charlotte Samaniego and Caitlin Dong (Walker).