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PROVIDENCE – Seoyon Kim is Rhode Island’s top speller.
The Wheeler School 8th grader out-spelled the competition during last Friday’s Rhode Island State Spelling Bee, sponsored by The Valley Breeze.
Kim went for eight rounds in the bee, which was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her victory secured her a place in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Kim said she’s nervous for the national bee, “. but I’m excited to represent Rhode Island. I’ll do my best.”
The competition’s youngest competitor, 4th-grader Laura Costello of Winsor Elementary School in Smithfield, was the runner-up.
Other participants in this year’s local competition were Lincoln Middle School 6th-grader Ethan Abreu; Max Ramirez, an 8th-grader at Birchwood Middle School in North Providence; Maiya Robert, a 7th-grader at Deering Middle School in West Warwick; and Daniel Piampiano, a 7th-grader at Scituate Middle School.
Jennifer Culotta and her husband, Mark Drenzek, weren’t actively looking for a new home, but they had a wish list of items a new home would have to have in order to sell their condo.
They knew they wanted a workshop for Mark (preferably air conditioned), an office/studio for Jennifer, a master bath with a big bathtub, more room for their daughter, Isbella Drenzek, to hang out with her friends, a guest room, a pool and a small, low-maintenance yard. They also loved living in Germantown and wanted to stay in the same general area.
“The stars just seemed to align,” said Jennifer. “We found a house that had everything we wanted during a time of high demand for updated condos in Germantown. While we had a few ‘pain points’ with the condo (no bathtub in the master, master on second floor), we really loved living there. I do think spending so much more time at home during COVID made the items on our ‘must have’ list even more attractive.”