Romoland student in National Spelling Bee
Austin Pineda navigated seven
rounds over two intense days,
spelling dozens of words correctly
before striking out on “tralatitious,”
a word to describe things
passed down over generations.
He finished 12th in a field of 288
in the 2008 Scripps National
Spelling Bee. During the competition,
classrooms at Boulder
Ridge Middle School in
Romoland erupted with applause
when school administrators
issued “Austin updates” over the school’s public address system.
The 2008 Riverside County Spelling Bee winners were: Austin Pineda, eighth grade, Boulder Ridge Middle School, Romoland School District; Alternate, Rachel Okey, eighth grade, River Springs Charter School, Temecula; Third place, Gleveen McBeth, eighth grade, Villegas Middle School, Alvord Unified School District; Fourth place, Ramakrishnan Kumaran, sixth grade, Acacia Middle School, Hemet Unified School District; Fifth place: Raymond Galloway, fifth grade, Lasselle Elementary School, Val Verde Unified School District.
