For three and a half hours, the field was whittled down to seven students who will move on to the District 4 Bee to be held in Alpharetta in February.  The final battle, however, came down to a match between two Spelling Bee rookies, Adriano Iqbal, an eighth grader from Shamrock Middle School and Brighton Kamen, a Peachtree Middle School eighth grader.  Adriano prevailed, by correctly spelling the word “zeitgeist.”

The new champion came into the competition without high expectations.

“This was my first spelling bee,” said Adriano.  “I’m totally astounded that I actually managed to place and go on to District, let alone actually win.”

Adriano said he got a little help from his dad, who practiced with him for “a couple of days.”  He also credited his love of reading for his success.

“Reading completely increased my vocabulary and allowed me to know some of the words that I didn’t study.”  Adriano says he enjoys reading anything from scientific books (he is currently reading a book on quantum physics) to fantasy novels such as the Harry Potter series.

The other five finalists who will compete at the district level are:  Elisabeth Cortez, a Chamblee Middle seventh grader; Simola Nayak, the 2009 DeKalb County champion who is a sixth grader at Henderson Middle; Lynn Jacobs, Fernbank Elementary fifth grader; Parul Rai, a sixth grader from Wadsworth Magnet; and Ebony Coleman, a seventh grader from McNair Middle.