‘Dilapidated’ Spells Success in Contest

By correctly spelling “dilapidated,” 13-year-old Lise Pham became the Garden Grove Unified School District’s top speller and advances to the county competition in April.

Lise, an eighth-grader at McGarvin Intermediate School in Westminster, placed ninth in the same competition last year and this year beat out 6,800 other students in her ascent to the top speller position.

The runner-up was Theo Nguyen of Doig Intermediate School, followed by Hanhi Tran and Chris Williams of Jordan Intermediate School. The top nine spellers advance to the county finals.