PTP sponsored the annual event
Perhaps the bravest third through sixth graders at the Highland Falls Intermediate School last week were Jahir Alencaster, Azanyah Elie, Hailey Hall, Mateo Millan, Adrianna Oligario, Melanie Wilkinson, Derek Woodbrey, Olivia Jersey, Chloe Rossell, Joshua Vahsen, Manuel Villanueva, Jacob Bione, Cassondra Bishop, Autumn Galu, Robertson Garo, Vincent Magallanes, Draven Martinez, Joseph Padula and Grace O’Connell.
These 20 students participated, in front of all their peers, in the 2020 HFIS Spelling Bee, sponsored by the HFFM Parent Teacher Partnership. All students had the opportunity to participate, via information and permission slips sent home to their families. The students listed above are those who chose to compete.
They competed grade by grade, with HFIS Principal Mike McElduff and Assistant Principal Yashira Maldonado talking with them before and after each round.
“You must be so excited,” Maldonado said to the third graders before it was their turn. “When I was in fourth grade I was in a spelling bee, I was super, super nervous. At first, I said ‘no, I don’t want to do it,’ but that was because I didn’t know how to spell that many English words. But then they told me they had Spanish words too, and then I was excited to participate.”
While encouraging the young spellers to do their best, she also encouraged the remainder of the students to “be a good audience”.
After it was over, McElduff praised them for doing just that, and also praised the competitors.
“I’m not sure I could have stood up there and did what you did,” he said.
On the stage with the students were judges Super-intendent of Schools Dr. Frank Sheboy and teachers Lucas Patsch and Kathleen Feldi. Reading Specialist Jen Adams was the ‘pronouncer’, reading the words for the students competing.
Presenting certificates after the event was the PTP’s Debbie Jersey, who also thanked all the students for participating (and she encouraged them all to consider entering the PTP’s next event, a spring talent show).
As each grade-level round began Patch reminded students of spelling bee rules, mainly that once a word is spelled aloud, “you can’t go back and correct it”.
“Before you speak, be very confident in what you are going to say,” he said.
So, who were the winners? Jahir Alencaster won on the word ‘usual’ in the third grade round and Chloe Rossell won on the word ‘reasonable’ in the fourth grade round. Brayden Woodbrey won the fifth grade round; and while Grace O’Connell had no competition in the sixth grade round, she had to spell two words correctly to be named the champion.
(Editor’s note: So readers can see the types of words that children had to spell in the bee, here is the list of third grade words: candles, admit, pieces, smiled, hotel, chicken, health, rover, crew, holler, ribbon, waited, vividly, social, samples, adrift, foolishness, siblings, argue, manger, proud, gallop, plumbing, earthquake and delivery. The average third grader is eight years old.)
