Students Get The Last Word In LVJUSD Spelling Bee

From LVJUSD: In a war of words spanning from “accumulate” to “zeppelin” Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District (LVJUSD) students in fourth through eighth grade competed in the Annual District Spelling Bee. The event was held in the LVJUSD Board Room on January 31st for the fourth through sixth grade section with 27 participants, and February 7th for the seventh and eighth graders with 15 participants. Members of the audience included Superintendent Kelly Bowers, District staff, school principals, teachers, and families of spellers, all of whom held their breath in tense anticipation while students deftly spelled their way through a variety of challenging words.

The spellers at the 4-6 grade level dueled for thirteen rounds before fifth grader Alex Piscotty from Sunset Elementary emerged victorious with the word “gorgeous.” In second place was Ira Pino, a fourth grader from Arroyo Seco Elementary; and third place went to Nuri Baxamusa, a fifth grader from Lawrence Elementary.

The gold-winning word in the 7-8 grade group was “paralysis,” spelled handily by eighth grader Sujin Leek of Christensen Middle School in the eighth round. Silver and bronze were trickier to come by as two students went another six rounds to break the tie. Seventh grader Nevanmee Kurulugama from Mendenhall Middle School claimed second place in the end, and Lily Engelsgjerd, seventh grader from Joe Michell K-8 took third.

Before the competitions began, Superintendent Bowers emphasized her pride in all the participants for making it to the District competition, and reminded them that they represented the top spellers not only from their own schools, but throughout the entire District, among 14 schools. She asked the spellers what they thought brought them to this level, and Kirsten Howell of East Avenue Middle School said, “I read a lot of books and that exposes me to a lot of vocabulary.”

“The students who participated in these competitions should be incredibly proud of their accomplishment,” said Bowers. “When I attend commencement ceremonies at our high schools, I always see the familiar faces of the students who competed in this spelling bee when they were in middle school. It’s a good predictor of future success.”

The three winners from each group will move on to the Alameda County Spelling Bee Championship on Saturday, March 10 at Canyon Middle School. Grades four to six compete at 9:00 am, and grades seven to nine begin at 12:30 pm.

Photos courtesy of Livermore Granada Boosters