Deer Valley, AZ. – January 29, 2014 –Highland Lakes School 6th grade student, Mathews Sajan, took 1st place during the annual Deer Valley Unified School District spelling bee competition held January 24th at District office. The winning word was: ‘Masala.’ Mathews and all students placing as runner-up will move on to regional level. Congratulations to the following students:

Winner:            Mathews Sajan, Highland Lakes School

1st runner-up:     Grace Xu, Highland Lakes School

2nd runner-up:     Kelsey Keto, West Wing School

3rd Runner-up:    Brenden Castellanos, Anthem School

4th runner-up:     Keshav Nandakumar, Sierra Verde School

5th runner-up:     Adryan Escarsega, Mountain Shadows Elementary

6th runner-up:     Emma Edmund, Gavilan Peak School

7th runner-up:     Kyle Endres, Gavilan Peak School