Sixth grader Somers Brush was declared the winner of The Grosse Pointe Academy annual middle school spelling bee on January 20 after battling out a record number of 23 rounds against 22 other bee finalists. The runner-up was sixth grader Alex Parker.

Somers will go on to compete in the Sixth Annual Macomb Daily Regional Spelling Bee at the Macomb Center for the Performing Arts in Clinton Township on February 18. The winner of that bee will advance to the national bee finals in Washington DC during the week of May 28-June 2, 2006.

The Grosse Pointe Academy spelling bee is part of the Macomb Daily Spelling Bee. Students in fifth through eighth grade are eligible to participate. The top spellers in each grade qualified for the school finals based on a written test. The other finalists were fifth graders Dylan Demkowicz, Gerard Smith, Steven Ragland, Chandler Warren, and Libby Watson; sixth graders Will Callewaert, Scott Dirksen, Grace Rentschler, Robert Stanley and Susie Stefani; seventh graders Taylor Bell, Mia Jefferson, Michael Leahy, Jess Martinelli, and Adam Smith; and eighth graders Laura Flowers, Chanel Geter, Nicole Smith, Lindsey Thibodeau, and Emily Williams.