Mentor Student Shakes Off Illness, Wins Districtwide Spelling Bee

The day before the Mentor Schools districtwide spelling bee, Vishnu Nistala was sick and could hardly talk.  Unless he could regain his voice, the Shore Middle School seventh grader wasn’t sure if he could compete in the spelling bee. 

 After getting a good night’s rest, however, he felt better on Thursday morning. By evening, his voice cleared up and he confidently spelled "zigzaggedness," making Vishnu the new Mentor elementary spelling-bee champion.

 “I was a little bit nervous,” said Vishnu, shrugging his shoulders. “But I’m used to this kind of stuff.”

 Vishnu was one of the five finalists who competed for the spelling bee championship at Memorial High School Thursday night. Noah Rolfes of Bellflower Elementary was the runner-up. Rounding out the three finalist spots were Cassidy Johnson of Shore Middle School, Christian Marinozzi of Rice Elementary and Nicole Heffington of Shore Middle School.

 “I’m very excited for all of them,” said Shore Middle School Principal Doug Baker. “They’ve been preparing for this spelling bee for more than two months and they’ve all worked very hard.”

 Sixty-six Mentor students competed in the districtwide spelling bee.

 Vishnu began preparing for the spelling bee months ago. Every evening at home, his parents, Sat and Valli Nistala, helped their son practice his spelling from lists he got from school.

 Vishnu will represent Mentor schools at the Lake County Spelling Bee on Feb. 23 at Auburn Career Center in Concord Township, said Karen Trunk, Mentor Schools Spelling Bee Coordinator.

The spelling bee competition will be aired on Mentor Public Schools Television Channel.