Wesleyan Student Still Basking in Glory of Winning State Spelling Bee

You could say the third time is the charm for Nicholas Poulos, a 7th grader at Wesleyan School in Peachtree Corners.

Poulos, 13, had made it to Round 3 (GISA Unit Finals) as a 5th grader and 6th grader only to lose out in the third round. This year, he was runner-up at Round 3 (GISA Unit Finals) which earned him a coveted spot at the State Championship.

The young man, who lives in Tucker, became the 52nd Annual Georgia Association of Educators State Spelling Bee championship on Friday besting Rohan Ramdeholl from North Gwinnett Middle School to win.

"We've been on cloud nine since Friday," said Nicholas' mother Donna Poulos. "And Nicholas was just estatic to win," she added.

The championship win means the young Poulus, who has attended Wesleyan since kindergarten, will be heading to Washington, D.C. to represent Georgia in the Scripps 2013 National Spelling Bee Championship May 28-30.

"It was pure joy to watch him win," said Jason Poulos, Nicholas' father, adding that seeing his young son win was better than anything he could have accomplished personally.

"Nicholas has been a great speller since he was four years old," said Donna Poulos, who recalls her son learning to spell the name of his favorite television show at that tender age.

On Tuesday the entire seventh grade class surprised Nicholas with a celebration complete with a cookie cake and accolades from his teacher and spelling bee coach Jane Leake.

"It was such a surprise," said Donna Poulos, admitting she and her husband almost teared up with pride watching their son. "Nicholas was thrilled," she added.

The Wesleyan student will have a busy summer; before participating in the spelling bee in May, Nicholas and his family will be making a trip to the nation's capital to compete in the National Science Bowl as one of a team of five students from the school.

He's also scheduled to compete in a geography bowl and a history bowl this summer. But it's not all about academics for Nicholas, he also plays soccer year round and enjoys participating in the school's theater performances taking the lead role in the presentation of "Secret Garden" this winter.

Jason Poulus said he and his wife are proud to hail from Tucker. They've raised Nicholas along with his 10-year-old sister, Alyssa who also attends Wesleyan, in the DeKalb community.

Jason Poulus is an attorney with Weinberg, Wheeler, Hudgins, Gunn & Dial, and Donna is a stay-at-home mom and Nicholas' "unofficial spelling bee coach."

And a few of the words Nicholas had to spell to win the championship:

“diminution,” “gossamer,” “triumvirate,” “recidivist,” “kibei,” “barukhzy,” “heinousness,” “bituminous,” “abbatial,” and the winning word…”fibrinogen!”

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