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Redding 8th grader retires from spelling competitions after winning state championship

Shireen Abdolmohammadi, 14, is the 2022 California State Spelling Bee champion.
Shireen Abdolmohammadi, 14, is the 2022 California State Spelling Bee champion.

Multiyear North State spelling champion, 14-year-old Shireen Abdolmohammadi, has retired after winning the 2022 California State Spelling Bee competition.

Abdolmohammadi began competing in the bee in the fourth grade and qualified to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee twice, in the fifth and seventh grades.

She's now 14 and in the eighth grade at Grant School in Redding.

“This state win is a happy ending to her years of competition,” said Shahrzad Karimabadi, Shireen’s mother.

More: Meet a 13-year-old Redding student who has her eyes on the Scripps National Spelling Bee

She fell in love with the process of learning to spell when she was 10 years old, "putting the pieces together" and identifying root words, Abdolmohammadi told the Record Searchlight in an interview in 2021.

When given words she can't spell while competing, Abdolmohammadi said she just takes them apart, identifies the prefixes, suffixes, definitions and language of origin.

“I’m really happy for her because she worked on these skills since she was in the fourth grade and it paid off,” Karimabadi said.

Karimabadi said Abdolmohammad put a lot of pressure on herself to prepare for the competitions. It was not uncommon to find her daughter spending five hours a night studying for the competition after she finished her homework, Karimabadi said.

Catch up: These Shasta County spelling bee champions moving to state competition in May

“I kept telling her we’re here to support you but if you want to quit, just quit. But she has a passion for this. She’s very competitive,” she said.

Karimabadi said her daughter now wants to volunteer in local spelling bees and coach her fifth-grade sister to prepare for the competitions.

Shireen Abdolmohammadi, an eighth-grade champion from Grant Elementary School, poses with sister and elementary school spelling bee champ, Nousheen Abdolmohammadi, and family.
Shireen Abdolmohammadi, an eighth-grade champion from Grant Elementary School, poses with sister and elementary school spelling bee champ, Nousheen Abdolmohammadi, and family.

Moving into high school, Abdolmohammadi is going to explore her passion for science and theater, Karimabadi said.

Abdolmohammadi feels content with the way her spelling career has ended, her mother said. She won the title of California State Spelling Bee Champion after competing against the 64 best spellers from 21 counties at the San Joaquin County Office of Education in Stockton on May 14.

Abdolmohammadi received a championship trophy to commemorate her high achievement.

Nada Atieh is a Report For America corps member and education reporter focusing on childhood trauma and the achievement gap for the Redding Record Searchlight. Follow her on Twitter at @nadatieh_RS. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today! And if you are able, please consider a tax-deductible gift toward her work.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Redding eighth grader becomes state spelling bee champ, then retires

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