Some of the area’s brightest young people met together March 3
for the annual San Benito County Spelling Bee.
Some of the area’s brightest young people met together March 3 for the annual San Benito County Spelling Bee. This was the county’s finalist competition for elementary school students (fourth-sixth grades). It was held in the gym at Maze Middle School.
The twenty-five finalists were selected from last month’s preliminary round of competition. Students came from schools all over the county – even as far as Bitterwater Tully.
As they waited on stage for the competition to begin, the nervousness was apparent. The finalists were completely silent, and the audience wasn’t any louder.
The first person up to spell was Ann Mari Rich. Earlier, when she pulled the No. 1 card, she let out a disappointed sigh because it meant she’d have to go first. However, the number one would prove to be entirely appropriate for her.
Rich, a sixth grader from Rancho, won the competition. Lauren Hack took second. When Hack misspelled “rejuvenate,” it was up to Rich to correctly spell “rejuvenate” plus the next word given, in order to win.
The final, winning word was “tournament.” Hack, a fourth grader at Southside, was surprised she did so well in the competition. She’s competed in spelling bees before, but this was her first time as a finalist in the county competition.
“This is really exciting,” she said afterward. Both girls will be going on to represent San Benito County in the state competition May 15 at Sonoma State University.
Rich is an exceptional student. Aside from attending Rancho San Justo during the week, she also goes to a Japanese school in Cupertino every Saturday. There she completes a whole week of schoolwork in one day. She studied for the competition with her mom, who is a Japanese immigrant. She said the practice “helped a lot,” and she encouraged other kids to reach for their goals.
Her advice: “Don’t give up – keep trying.” Rich took fourth place in last year’s competition.
Galen Wrobel, who is also a sixth grader at Rancho, was the third place finisher. Wrobel, who admitted that he didn’t study said, “I didn’t think I was going to get this far.”
This year’s fourth place finalist was Francis Sherry, a fourth grader from Cerra Vista. She was excited about the competition and said, “I want to be in it next year.”
Tim Foley, the county superintendent of schools, said he was pleased with the turnout. “This is one of the best nights of the year,” he said. “It’s always a happy time and we love that so many of the families are supportive of an academic competition.”
The final competition for the junior high school students will also be held at Maze on March 10.
