'Futbol' among winning words in Spanish Spelling Bee at Copeland Elementary
Most schools have spelling bees throughout the year, but Copeland Elementary School has given this education tradition a multicultural twist.
The Augusta school on Thursday played host to its third annual Spanish Spelling Bee.
A large pool of students and some parents met in the school cafeteria early Thursday to watch three finalists from fourth and fifth grades compete. The format was identical to traditional spelling bees, except the children were given Spanish words to say and spell.
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"We want to promote literacy," said Spanish teacher Yaqueline Garcia. "We want to expose the students to different activities for language, in this case Spanish. We want to foster international mindsets and also develop communicative skills and public speaking skills."
Before the spelling bee started, fifth-grader Justine Alberto Perez said learning Spanish can be a frustrating, but also called it "pretty fun seeing that it can really help you in life."
While she did well in the bee, the winners of the two grade divisions were Mason Page for fourth grade and Julian Ryescarrion for fifth grade. The winning words were Diciembre for Mason and futbol for Julian. Both said they enjoy learning Spanish and they have practiced for this moment.
"I practiced for two hours straight," Mason said. "I wanted to win so bad, because I wanted to know how it feels to win the spelling bee."
"It's cool that you know two languages," Julian said.
The boys' parents were in the audience and expressed how proud they were of their sons and what they believe this bilingual education will do for their children's development.
"We're not just one language anywhere," said Julian's mom Crystal Ryescarrion. "It's so blended, you really need a new language to get by."
Sally Spell, Mason's mother, said, "I want him to learn every culture, so that way, he can understand other people."
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta's Copeland Elementary School holds Spanish Spelling Bee
