Spelling Bee 2005
by Bria O’Connor
This year’s San Benito County Spelling Bee was another great success. Top spellers from around the county in grades four to six competed in the County Finals on a recent Monday, while the seventh and eighth grade spellers returned for their own championship two days later. While tension was high for all the contestants and their families, there was a huge amount of confidence in the room. From the beginning of the competition, students were well prepared and ready to spell. Round after round, students taking part in the competition successfully spelling words from “solar” to “ukulele” and “kaleidoscope.” Kim O’Connor, an Educational Consultant for the County Office of Education, who coordinates the Spelling Bee each year said “We just couldn’t get them out! The kids were super, super good spellers.”
Before the competition dwindled down to the top two spellers, the last seven contestants, all girls, went through several rounds of words. County Superintendent of Schools Tim Foley, who judged the competition, jokingly said that the competition might go until 2 in the morning.
Photo (above):
Grades 4-5 Winners:
1st Place Alexandra Whorley, 2nd Place Mia Vodanovich, 3rd Place Lauren Hack, 4th Place Veronika Coate
pictured here with Kim Dryden and San Benito County Office of Education Superintendent Tim Foley.
After 241 words and an impressive performance by all 25 contestants, this year’s Spelling Bee Champion was declared. Alexandra Whorley, a sixth-grader at Rancho San Justo Middle School, won the competition by correctly spelling the words “differentiate” and “vengeance.” During intermission, Alexandra commented, “I’m nervous, but excited. This is a really cool experience. I’m glad I got to be in it.”
Alexandra was incredibly confident and half way through the competition, she was already chatting with friends about plans to go on to the State Competition in Sonoma.
Mia Vodanovich, a fifth grader at Sacred Heart Parish School, took second place and will be competing along with Alexandra and over 100 students from all over California at the state level. When asked about going to the State Competition, Mia said, “I’m really excited knowing that I earned it.”
Many new faces were seen competing in the Spelling Bee this year. Nick Chicoine, a fourth-grader at Tres Pinos School, said that he really enjoyed the competition and hopes to compete again next year. Lauren Hack, a fifth-grader at Southside School, said, “I feel a lot better about it this year because I did it last year.” Lauren, who competed in the State Competition last year, took third place this year and also hopes her experience will help her again next year.
One young girl impressed the crowd by her ability to spell words off the top of her head without writing them down. The audience would be even more surprised to find out that this girl, Veronika Coate, who took fourth place in this year’s Finals, came to America from Latvia when she was four years old, knowing only three English words. Veronika was adopted by local parents who say that she is an “avid reader” and loves to spell. After the spelling bee, Veronika was asked to describe her experience at the competition and all she could say was “Wow!”
This year’s judges were, Kim Dryden, Coordinator of Special Projects for the Office of Education, Jerrie Villegas, a retired Language Arts teacher, Kim O’Connor, Spelling Bee Coordinator, and Bria O’Connor, a college student
majoring in International Business and Music.
“Freaky” was how Eric Wang, a seventh-grader at Spring Grove School, described this year’s 7th and 8th grade San Benito County Spelling Bee Championship. The competition was held recently at Maze Middle School. Despite the jittering nerves and the many intense rounds of words, Eric Wang won the competition by correctly spelling the words “easel” and “electrician.”
Photo (above):
Grades 7-8 Winners:
1st Place Eric Wang, 2nd Place Warda Alam, 3rd Place Daniel Ornelas, 4th Place Kambry Richardson pictured with Kim Dryden and Kim O’Connor.
He and runner-up, Warda Alam, an eighth-grader at Rancho San Justo Middle School, will be traveling to the State Finals in Sonoma. This is Warda’s third time competing at the State level and she says, “It’s always fun to go to the hotels and get free food, but it’s really nerve wracking because there’s a lot of smart, smart people there.”
The Spelling Bee was given a great effort by all 21 contestants. Sacred Heart students Jessica Meade and Huma Moheyuddin described the feelings of most, if not all the contestants, saying they were “nervous, but excited.” Approximately two weeks ago, students from around the county took a preliminary written test and the top spellers were chosen for the finals. The competition brought in a good crowd to cheer on the spellers.
The first half of the Spelling Bee went relatively fast, but once the competition was down to the top three contestants, it was a different story. Eric Wang, Warda Alam, and Daniel Ornelas went around and around for 10 rounds before the top two were declared.
Daniel, a seventh-grader at San Juan School, took third place, followed by Kambry Richardson, a seventh-grader at Jefferson School, who took fourth place in the competition.
Each year the competition is sponsored by the San Benito County Office of Education with the leadership of County Superintendent of Schools Tim Foley, Coordinator of Special Projects Kim Dryden, and Educational Consultant and Spelling Bee Coordinator Kim O’Connor. This year’s judges were Cheri Armstrong, a local piano teacher, Kim Dryden, Jerrie Villegas, a retired teacher of 33 years from Pleasant Hill, and Bria O’Connor, a college student and real estate assistant.
|
