Saturday, March 5th
"The last word is 'challenge.'"
The 7th grade speller stood erect and didn't flinch.
"Challenge? C-H-A-L-L-E-N-G-E. Challenge."
"Correct. We have a champion." The room burst out into applause.
Last Saturday, fellow teachers Diana, Aaron, Kristi, and I volunteered to help with the Bilingual Schools Annual Spelling Bee Competition. Kristi and Aaron were the only ones to have judged a Bee before, but we newbies weren't alone, as almost the entire room of judges (mostly teachers from other bilingual schools in the city) were new to the event. After finally clarifying the Bee rules and running through a few examples, we donned our official judge shirts and split up into our respective rooms.
The competition was split by grade level, with each school sending a representative speller for each grade. I was "the pronouncer" for 7th grade, alongside a 4th grade teacher from Del Campo ("the judge"), and a Honduran engineer recruited by his friend to help out ("the scribe"). Everything went smoothly, with the minor exception of the time I accidentally started spelling the word instead of giving an example sentence. "Oops, and your new word is ____."
And ironically, the winning word was "challenge," which, compared to the other words we gave (like "psychologist"), was piece of cake.
Afterwards, there was a large award ceremony in the school's auditorium where the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st place winners walked onto the stage to receive their medal, pose for pictures, and take their prize. Third place winners got a rubber ball. 2nd place winners received a teddy bear, and 1st place got a mystery bag. (I never found out what was inside.)
It was a great experience, especially meeting the other judges, and I'll definitely volunteer again next Y-E-A-R! Stay tuned to hear how the IST teacher spelling bee goes!
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