Local Middle School Student Takes 3rd in Spelling Bee

Seventh grader Santa Fe Kiler (right) of Menifee Valley Middle School finished third in the county spelling bee. First place went to Aisha Randhawa (left), fifth grader at Garretson Elementary School in Corona. John Terry (center), an eighth grader at Desert Springs Middle School in Palm Springs, took second place.

A Menifee Valley Middle School student took home the third-place trophy today in the 39th Annual Riverside County Spelling Bee, held at the Moreno Valley Conference and Recreation Center.

Seventh grader Santa Fe Kiler finished behind only two other students in the competition to see who would represent Riverside County at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Maryland in May. The winner was Aisha Randhawa, a fifth grader from Garretson Elementary School in the Corona-Norco Unified School District, who correctly spelled "cologne" and "ambrosia" in the final two rounds to defeat eighth grader John Terry from Desert Springs Middle School in Palm Springs.