Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Spring Branch ISD Spelling Bee

Try, try again. That’s what Cornerstone Academy seventh-grader McKenna Tanner did after finishing No. 2 last year in Spring Branch ISD’s Annual Spelling Bee. On Friday, she was crowned district Spelling Bee winner after 18 rounds of words and competition.

“It felt really cool, because last year I was so close, and this year I made it,” gushed the Cornerstone teen who reads widely and hopes to be a writer one day. “I did it!”

McKenna, a Gifted & Talent student who taught herself to read as a child, skipped the fourth grade and loves to ride horses, prepared for the Spelling Bee by working through practice word lists with her mother and campus volunteer Tamara Gordon.

Her mom, Jean, says that McKenna dropped the school Geography Bee to focus on spelling this year. Her preschool teachers called her “hyperlexic” when she quickly mastered reading. Today, her favorite authors are J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan.

Her own writing is a state PTA Reflections Contest submission.

The Spelling Bee was conducted Feb. 20 in the mini-auditorium at Spring Woods High School. More than 40 elementary and middle school students competed, and twice as many parents, counselors and principals observed. The official pronouncer was Mary Grace Landrum, a former Board of Trustees member.

All students had been named either winner or runner-up in school spelling contests.

Finishing second this year was sixth-grader Hannah Krenz, who was the runner-up winner at Spring Branch Middle School earlier this year. 

As Spelling Bee winner, McKenna received a special trophy, Barnes & Noble gift certificate, and large Webster’s International Dictionary. She will now compete in the HoustonPBS Spelling Bee scheduled for March 28.

That regional winner and runner-up go on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., later this year. Both regional and national Bees are televised.

Joining Mary Grace Landrum as the event judges were Mike Thomas of Program Evaluation and Research, Barbara Cofer with Advanced Academic Studies and Becky Wuerth with SBISD Community Relations.

The Spelling Bee sponsor was Amy Ellingson with Advanced Academic Studies.

Campus Winners and Runers-Up:

Elementary Schools

Buffalo Creek – David Palacios, Winner; Katherine Pimentel, Runner-Up
Bunker Hill – Megan Moore, Winner; Nara Yoo, Runner-Up
Cedar Brook – Isabella Luu, Winner; David Santillán, Runner-Up
Edgewood – Hoang Mai, Winner; William Moore, Runner-Up
Frostwood – Megan Xie, Winner; Catherine Lu, Runner-Up
Housman – Hoan-My Le, Winner; Evelyn Osorio, Runner-Up
Hunters Creek – Sang Yen Chung, Winner; Srijan Velamuri, Runner-Up
Meadow Wood – Harrison Brooks, Winner; Alex Skoutelakis, Runner-Up
Memorial Drive – Sydney Krenz, Winner; Cole Hartung, Runner-Up
Ridgecrest – Arlette Camacho, Winner; Binh Tran, Runner-Up
Shadow Oaks – Brenna Payne, Winner; Kevin Lara, Runner-Up
Spring Branch – Olivia Koepke, Winner; Jorge Salayes Quinonez, Runner-Up
Terrace – Kiera Yetiv, Winner; Mahad Khan, Runner-Up
Valley Oaks – Ben Brink, Winner; Daniel Rampersaud, Runner-Up
Westwood – Alijah Hall, Winner; Kyle Doan, Runner-Up

Middle Schools

Cornerstone Academy - McKenna Tanner, Winner; Macy Hempe, Runner-Up
Landrum Middle - Felicity Fernandez, Winner; Brandon Baltazar, Runner-Up
Memorial Middle - Stephen Kim, Winner; Aidan Berkman, Runner-Up
Spring Branch Middle - Drew Schachel, Winner; Hannah Krenz, Runner-Up
Spring Forest Middle - Sagan Bui, Winner; Daniela Perez, Runner-Up
Westchester Academy - Ali Fazal, Winner; Shahir Ali, Runner-Up


Spelling Bee Words
Round 1
goatee
average
whirlpool
ninja
reckless
errand
cashew
polka
walrus
mohair
anvil
canary
magazine
hustle
barley
alderman
buffalo
mermaid
electoral
beige
totem
necessary
slaughter
hibachi
pragmatic
discipline
saxophone
siesta
mahi-mahi
periscope
admiral
manicure
bambino
fidelity
cocatoo
behoove
homonym
Round 2
ventilate
typhoon
finale
begonia
dungaree
prosecute
jackal
cabana
knavery
transect
biopsy
albatross
parfait
gondola
contiguous
Flemish
cafeteria
persimmon
confetti
semantics
haiku
mootable
expertise
clementine
jaguar
agnostic
inferno
herbivore
physique
topography
Frankenstein
Round 3
roughhewn
benefactor
palette
wiseacre

henna
simile
shogun
portfolio
dynamic
kahuna
filament
artichoke
democracy
Gestapo
postmortem
tomatillo
souvenir
hydrology
mahal

kitsch
origami
consensus
mattock
succotash
lethargy
Round 4
Kremlin
desperado
ominous
influenza
cryptic
guilder
paradox
idiom
macadamia
alliteration
foliate
colloquial
hacienda
bolero
paprika
implement
analysis
prosaic
Round 5
megalopolis
sayonara
cruller
mercurial
doctrinaire
maestro
exuberant
synergy
malihini

credenza
Samaritan
protagonist
Amarillo
Meticulous
Subterfuge
Intractable
Round 6
piccolo
apostrophe
pacifism
saffron
erudite
mistletoe
barabara

spinet
chagrin
endemic
ubiquitous
tariff
capitulation
Round 7
impetuous
cravat
gourami
oregano
hedonism
samurai
dressage
palmetto
isinglass
Round 8
barrio
mystique
hippopotamus
odyssey
bezoar
glasnost
verboten
tachometer
magnanimous
Round 9
tremendous
companion
bungle
officer
variance
possessed
remainder
congeal
discord
Round 10
frailty
corpse
salvage
decisive
baffling
Round 11
existential
perturbed
grotesque
infallible
Round 12
evasion
introspect
Round 13
plicated
critique
Round 14
subjunctive
culinarian
Round 15
pugnacious
inconsequential
Round 16
longevity
emissary
Round 17
alibi
incessant
Round 18
disquietude

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