Madera Spelling Bee Matches the Heavyweights of Spelling

Information, photos courtesy Guy Fong:

Once again, the Madera Spelling Bee did not disappoint. Ali versus Frazier comes to mind, as the heavyweights of spelling went toe to toe with each other in the 4th Annual Madera Elementary Spelling Bee. Emceed once again by popular fifth grade teacher Eric Danysh, a packed auditorium of confident spellers, nervous parents, and an overwhelmingly supportive student audience both moaned and cheered as 22 of the best spellers competed for the top prize.

After 19 rounds of back and forth action, fifth grader Vincent Wang, emerged as the top finisher in this year’s contest. Vincent correctly spelled “synthesis” during the penultimate round and finally got the knockout of his opponents by getting “balderdash” correct.

Fighting the hard fight was Riley Parks, a six grader whose smooth style led him to a commendable second place finish. Fourth grader, Abigail Manila also proved to be a worthy opponent with a very strong third place performance. When asked how he felt following his victory, a jubilant Vincent responded, “It’s really exciting!” Next up for Vincent is the West Contra Costa District Spelling Bee which will match the best spellers district wide while also serving as the stepping stone to the Scripps National Spelling Bee Competition.

Reaching the Madera Spelling Bee finals was a difficult task, as each participant was required to put in endless hours of hard work just to qualify for the school wide competition. Every entrant was obligated to study hundreds of difficult words in preparation such as, “synecdoche,” “zeitgeist,” and “pusillanimous,” to name just a few. Only after qualifying as one of the top three spellers in their respective classes did the participants get the opportunity to stand on stage before hundreds of supportive onlookers and attempt to spell very challenging words correctly.

A huge congratulations to all of this year’s Bee participants for a job well done and let’s give a “hip hip hooray” for Vincent as he moves on to the District Bee.