Sí-saw battle: Spanish Spelling Bee not as easy to ace as uno, dos, tres
After weeks of intense study and long hours of preparation, students from across the state came together to show off their mastery of the Spanish language.
Colorado’s third Spanish Spelling Bee drew nearly 50 participants in grades 2-8.
The bee took place Saturday morning at Kepner Legacy Middle School, with some students coming all the way from Telluride.
Students earned a spot in the state bee by participating in a bee at their school. The top three spellers from Saturday’s competition will go to San Antonio, Texas, for the national Spanish Spelling Bee on July 1215.
Students not only had to break down words letter-by-letter in Spanish, but they also had to be careful not to miss special marks such as accents or capital letters.
Jorge Garcia, the executive director for the Colorado Association for Bilingual Education, says it is a common misconception to think that spelling in Spanish is easier than in English. He says kids not only work their brains by memorizing words, it is also a great cognitive exercise.
“Students in two-way programs do exceptionally well in school,” Garcia said. “By the time they get to middle school, they outperform native English speakers.”
Most participants were native Spanish speakers, but there were also a handful of students who spoke Spanish as a second language.
The spelling bee began with a practice round, where every student could spell out a word without penalty. Participants could also write down their assigned word on a small white board before spelling it out to the judges.
As the room grew quiet, students nervously sat in their chairs on stage as each was called to the front.
Parents held their breaths and carefully listened to their kids break down long and complicated words.
Regardless of whether Spanish is their first or second language, all seemed to compete at the same level, often making the same mistakes. Many found themselves out of the competition after forgetting to add accents to words or confusing the letters “c,” “s” or “z.”
“It makes me very proud to see that schools in Colorado strive to promote the Spanish language,” said Vanessa Bernal, the word pronouncer and event emcee. “There are many nonhispanic kids that are competing at the same level as kids that have been speaking Spanish their whole lives.”
After almost four hours, Angelisse Torres, 13, of Angenive Middle School, took first place with “oncólogo,” the Spanish word for oncologist.
Angelisse’s victory was her second consecutive one at state.
“Last year’s spelling bee was brutal. It felt great being recognized as the best in the state,” she said, “I am very proud of myself, I didn’t think I would win first place again.”
Angelisse said she will study a lot harder than she did last year and hopefully win the national competition. She plans on taking an advanced Spanish class in high school so she can continue learning.
Taking second place was fourth-grader Elle Ceres, of University Hill Elementary in Boulder, who impressed the judges and audience by spelling out lengthy and complex words without much difficulty.
Elle, who misspelled the word “convalesencia,” is very excited to compete in San Antonio.