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Neon signs are not needed to declare beaming Cooper the champion of all Culver City spellers.
Cooper Komatsu of El Marino Language School stood tall on Wednesday night and confidently spelled the word l-e-x-i-c-o-l-i-g-y to take home the eighth annual School District spelling bee.
To audience cheers at the cafetorium at Lin Howe Elementary, the thrilled fifth-grader finished atop 23 other spellers – four students from each of the District’s five elementary schools and Culver City Middle School.
Last year, Cooper and his partner, Lily Haines from Indiana, finished seventh in the country in the National School Scrabble Championship in Orlando.
The pair scored a 5-2 record with a plus-645 point differential in their seven games.
The tournament featured the best young Scrabble players in grades four through eight from throughout the United States and Canada. He was the first fourth-grader ever to finish in the tournament’s Top 10.
Two nights ago, young Mr. Komatsu took home a first-place trophy and a cash prize from Westfield Culver City, which sponsored the event.
Cooper advances to the Los Angeles County Spelling Bee, on Wednesday, March 27, at 4 o’clock at Almansor Court, 700 S. Almansor St., Alhambra. The winner of that competition will qualify for the state competition in Sonoma in May.
Trophies also were presented to second-place finisher Darya Treanor of Farragut Elementary and third-place finisher Grace Jacobsen of Lin Howe.
Each participant received a certificate of commendation signed by the Supt. Dave LaRose for reaching the Spelling Bee finals.
The District Spelling Bee will be broadcast on Channel 35.
Mr. Maleman may be contacted at gmaleman@aol.com
