Educational Services Division
Word Wizards Display Talent at Spelling Bee
On Sunday, March 7th, the Santa Cruz County Office of Education hosted concurrent Spelling Bee Championships at UCSC for students in grades 4 - 6 and grades 7 - 9. The top three finalists in each group received trophies. The first- and second-place winners gained the privilege of representing Santa Cruz County in the state competition which will take place in May.
Arnie Levine, Trustee, County Board of Education, coordinated this annual event which was co-sponsored by UCSC and the Santa Cruz Sentinel
School sites across the county sent their top two spellers to participate in the competition. After registering and picking up their gift bags, which included a commemorative t-shirt, a pen and mini-dictionary ( donated by the Bay Tree Bookstore), the students moved into one of two rooms, one for grades 4–6 and the other for grades 7-9.
Following a review of the rules, the spelling began. The spell master read each word, gave a definition and put each word into a sentence. Spellers were then given 15 seconds to write down the word before a proctor checked the spelling. The two and half hour competition allowed for students to spell 50 – 60 words. At the halfway point of the event, spellers and their families were treated to cookies donated by Pacific Cookie Company and apple juice compliments of S. Martinelli’s & Co.
In a field of over 100 students in the elementary division, Andrew Miller, a 5th grader at Ocean Grove Home School, earned the first place trophy when he correctly spelled all but three out of 55 words correctly, earning him the title of Santa Cruz County Spelling Bee champ and a chance to advance to the state spelling bee. Miller reclaimed the first place trophy for the second year in a row. Also advancing to the state spelling bee is second-place winner, Margaret Hedrick, a student at Mission Hill Middle School, Santa Cruz City Schools District. The third place winner was Edward Sims-Johnson of Scotts Valley Middle School.
The state championships for students in grade 4 – 6 will be May 15 at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park.
In the 7 – 9th grade division, with approximately 40 participants, Gianna Fisher of Shoreline Middle School, Live Oak School District, earned the title of Santa Cruz County Spelling Bee champ and will advance to the state spelling bee. Going to the state championship along with Fisher is second-place winner Russell Huang, a student at Alternative Family Education, Santa Cruz City Schools District The third place winner was Kai Tanken of Gateway School.
The state championships for students in grades 7 – 9 will be May 8 at Miller Creek High School, 2255 Las Gallinas Avenue in San Rafael.
The top 10 students in both divisions, grades 4-6 and 7-9, were recognized and awarded prizes. The top five received two all-day passes to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, #s 5, 6 and 7 received passes to the CineLux Theatres. Winners # 8, 9 and 10 received a pass to the Santa Cruz Roller Palladium.
Read an article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel about the 2010 Spelling Bee.
See a list of the top ten spellers in each division from the 2010 Spelling Bee. The top two in each division will represent Santa Cruz County in the state Spelling Bee Championship in May.
Congratulations to the 2010 Santa Cruz County Spelling Bee participants. All of the students did an outstanding job representing their schools as magnificent spellers.
Find out more about how our Santa Cruz County students fared in the California State Spelling Bee here.
