You could hear a pin drop in the Hill Elementary School Cafetorium during the recent fourth and fifth grade spelling bee competitions as the 10 finalists conquered their nerves and competed in front of their classmates. Fifth-grader Savon McGill was one of the 48 students (the top two from each class) to compete in front of their friends and families the day before the final round. In the days leading up to the competitions, Savon and classmate Sarah Dresnack played spelling games with other students in their class and studied for many hours at home to prepare. Savon was really excited to just make it into this year's competition. "I tried harder this year and got 100 percent correct on the pretest," she said. In the fourth grade competition there was a three-way tie between Shannon Allen, Lydia Arthur and Nick Capomaccio. Michelle Lopez was the fifth grade winner. The Hill PTSA is sponsoring three students from each grade level to attend the Regional Spelling Bee in March. The top five finalists at each level received Webster's Dictionaries donated by the Hill School Store. Fourth graders receiving dictionaries: Nick Capomaccio, Adrian Donovan, Lydia Arthur, Madison Gluck, and Shannon Allen. Fifth graders receiving dictionaries: Matt Moody, Forrest Macaluso, Samantha Jurhs, Brandi Bartlett, and Michelle Lopez. "In this world of "spell-check" technology, it's encouraging to see students who have such a command of the seemingly diminishing skill of spelling," said Hill School Principal Fil Peck. "It was inspiring to see the level of confidence exhibited by all of the students participating. I was so proud of our students - facing a full audience of families, and then another audience of their peers." March 5, 2006 |
