100th Scripps Spelling Bee Comes to OLHCA
John Gilmor (8th Grade) takes his turn at the microphone.
Academy Students Participate in the 100th Annual Scripps Spelling Bee
After long hours of study, alone or with the early Tuesday morning Spelling Bee club, the students were ready to put their practice to the test.
This year, before the classroom round, the 3rd-8th grades each took turns competing in the team spelling bee. On November 13th, each grade was divided into two-man teams and given a word they had to work together to spell. Each pair had to write the word down and then read the spelling aloud. In this extra round of the competition students were able to evaluate how well prepared they were for the upcoming spelling challenges.
A month later the classes competed to determine the top spellers in each grade. Word after word was given until the 1st and 2nd places for each grade was determined. These two winning students were given a new list of words to study in order to prepare for the school wide Bee on January 16th.
This next round of the Spelling Bee took place on the stage. Though only forty minutes long, the tension was notable. Round after round went by until, in the end, 6th grader Ava Zarlengo took 1st place.
Ava will be going on to compete in the state level of the Bee on February 20th. Good luck, Ava!
-Written by John Ballard, 12th Grade
