A 6th grader from Eagle Rock Elementary took home the first-place trophy at Los Angeles Unified’s second annual Region East Spelling Bee Thursday night, outspelling nearly 40 other students.
Champion 12-year-old Veronica Byerly breezed into the top three – only misspelling one word. She redeemed herself in a bonus round against fellow 6th grader Presley Bustamante from Delevan Drive Elementary. Byerly was declared the winner after successfully spelling the word “penitentiary,” while Bustamante misspelled the word “genome.”
The event, held at Garfield High School’s auditorium in East L.A., gave students from the 4th through 8th grades the chance to put their vocabulary and spelling skills to the test before advancing to the countywide competition. Each student represented one of the 42 schools that participated in the bee, including young learners from Hollenbeck Middle School, Humphreys Ave Elementary and Brooklyn Avenue School.
During a spelling bee, students spell a series of words correctly to advance through the rounds. If they misspell a word, they are eliminated. If spellers are stumped, they can request the word’s definition, its use in a sentence, an alternate pronunciation or the word’s origin.
Kicking off the bee were words like “mushy,” “hopscotch” and “bazaar.” Later in the competition, spellers had to flex their vocabulary muscles and spell words like “avuncular,” “bandicoot,” or “fecund,” – the word that knocked El Sereno Middle School 7th grader Dita Acosta out of the top two finalist positions.
Some family members in the audience quietly waved pom-poms to cheer on their students while others sported bee earrings or bee antennae to show support for their budding “spellebrities.”
Last year, a student from Dahlia Heights Elementary School in Eagle Rock took home bragging rights as the top speller of LAUSD’s Region East schools, which encompasses more than 100 schools across the eastern portion of the district. Words in this year’s bout were pulled from Scripps Words of the Champions word set.
Kevin Segura, one of several youngsters representing Boyle Heights and East L.A. schools, showed promise in the first few rounds of the bee.
The 6th grader from Hollenbeck Middle School displayed confidence on the microphone but was eliminated in round three after misspelling “bonafide.”
Yvette Olivares-Estrada, Segura’s English teacher, said the return of the spelling bee inspired school communities to celebrate learning outside of the classroom. She recalled seeing Segura “come alive” academically when he began to prepare for the regional competition.
“This event is crucial for kids to do more than they usually do in a school day. It’s so nice to see our kids win,” Estrada said.
Byerly will now participate in the L.A. County Regional Spelling Bee on March 19 in Alhambra, with a chance to qualify for the nationally renowned Scripps Spelling Bee in May.
