When Christian Hernandez, a fifth-grader at Brockport's Hill Elementary School, heard his school was going to have a spelling bee, he couldn't wait. Christian loves to read and spelling has always come naturally for him. It all started when he read an article in the newspaper about a spelling bee. Soon after, Christian asked his teacher, Chris Albrecht, if his class could have their own spelling bee. "I thought it was a great idea," said Albrecht. "We always have activities around social studies and science, why not spelling?" Albrecht organized the spelling bee not just for his class, but for the entire school. In December, nearly all 700 fourth- and fifth-grade students took pretests on 30 spelling words. Sixty students (the top two students from each class) went on to compete in the school-wide bee. Students stood up on stage in front of their grade level, teachers and their families. Then numbered wooden sticks corresponding to a numbered list of words were used to determine which word each student would spell. "I just remember looking out over all the people and wondering if I could do it," said Christian. Then he did. Christian came in first place after spelling the word "Trimorphism" correctly. Now he and five other finalists from his school will go on to the Regional Spelling Bee competition at the Rochester Museum and Science Center's Eisenhart Auditorium on March 8. Also winning from the fifth-grade was Ashley Lesniak, second place, and Nicole Youngs, third place. From the fourth-grade, Eric Lemke took first place, Ashley Hunt, second, and Dustin Doucette, third. "By putting students in a competitive situation, they can experience simple pressure," said Albrecht. "The experience the students gained by being in the spelling bee will provide them with strong skills that they will benefit from later on in life." "Fahrenheit," "rhinoceros" and "hypotenuse" were some of the words spelled by the top six students. "The students did a fantastic job and it really was difficult to eliminate them," said Albrecht. "They kept spelling the words correctly." He compiled spelling lists for the classes using the Spelling to Write Curriculum (a list the district uses for grades 1-8, which includes high frequency words from everyday writing). He also used words from New York Times' crossword puzzles. The Hill School Store donated dictionaries to the top five students at each grade level. The Brockport Hill School PTSA will pay for the entrance fees for the six students to go to the regional competition. "It would be very positive for our school pride to place highly in the regional bee," said Albrecht. "I think with the talent we are sending this year we have a wonderful chance, but am proud of the students no matter what the outcome is." The winner of the regional competition will win an all expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. to participate in the National Spelling Bee in May. |
