Curran Wins Spelling Bee at Washington School
There was a staggering amount of energy and excitement at Washington Primary School during a late June second grade spelling bee contest. After a series of challenging rounds, Ryan Curran was crowned champion after correctly spelling the word "petroleum."
The annual competition was created by former Huntington teacher and current district parent Tim Pillion, who presided over the finals during the early years of the contest. The contest has effectively promoted reading, grammar and spelling and student interest has grown in each of these areas. Washington reading teachers Jeff Dicker and Carol Soskil presided over this year's championship rounds.
Students qualified for the finals through earlier rounds conducted in their respective classrooms. Five students from each of the four second grade classes advanced to the finals. With their classmates watching, the finalists sat on the school stage until their name was called. When it was their turn, contestants stood at a lectern as Mr. Dicker and Mrs. Soskil read out this year's words.
There was electricity in the air as contestants finally started to fall. In the end, the battle was reduced to just two competitors; Mr. Curran from teacher Maria Lanzot's class and Sinna Oumer from teacher Suzanne Dinehart's class. Third place finisher Gabriela Ferreira came from teacher Patricia Maltempo's class. "It felt great," Mr. Curran said about winning the spelling bee title. "I was very happy."
Charlotte Soljanich won last year's spelling bee when she correctly spelled the word "trapezoid." Andreas Seferian won in 2011 when he accurately spelled the word "goulash." Anna Wickey captured the 2010 title when she correctly spelled the word "business." Ryan Hoffman won the crown in 2009 after acing the spelling of the word "pasture." Nicholas Inman won the in 2008 when he spelled out "eclipse." In 2007, Sarah James took top honors after she spelled "giraffe." Students look forward to the event in the weeks leading up to it.
Mr. Curran's name will be engraved on a plaque that already contains the names past second grade spelling bee champs. It is affixed to a wall in the main lobby of the school.
Contestants said they enjoyed the experience of battling each other academically. "It's an educational contest that is a mixture on both learning and fun," Principal Marsha Neville said.