Home Our Diocese Kent County eighth-grader Sage Sahwney wins state Spelling Bee, scholarship offer from...

Kent County eighth-grader Sage Sahwney wins state Spelling Bee, scholarship offer from Saint Mark’s High School

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Sage Sawhney (center), won the Delaware State Spelling Bee on March 6 at Saint Mark‘s High School. Sophia Dorno, left, placed third, and John Chacko was second.

MILLTOWN — Sage Sawhney, an eighth-grade student at Postlethwait Middle School in Camden-Wyoming, outspelled 22 competitors from across the state to win the Delaware State Spelling Bee, held March 6 at Saint Mark’s High School. With the win, Sawhney advances to the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

His winning word was “ogival,” which means “of, related to or having the form of the curve determining the shape of the head of modern pointed projectiles: bullet-shaped.”

Saint Mark’s, the host of the event, offered Sawhney a $25,000 scholarship. John Chacko, a seventh-grader at Christ the Teacher Catholic School was awarded a $20,000 scholarship, and Sophia Dorno, who is in sixth grade at Delaware Valley Classical School, earned a $15,000 offer.

“Saint Mark’s High School’s long-standing commitment to this contest is reflective of its vision to serve as the premier center for education and ministry in the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington,” principal Tom Fertal said. The school has sponsored the state bee for 13 years.

Sawhney also won a 2021 United States Mint proof set, and one-year subscriptions to Britannica Online Premium and Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online.

Judges for the contest included Rachael Casey, Saint Mark’s director of academic partnerships, and Roberta Fair of the school’s English department faculty. The official record keeper for the bee was Saint Mark’s English department chairperson Anne Eaves.