This year marked the first ever Spelling Bee in the Estancia Santa Gertrudis. Spelling bees in Honduras are typically only found in bilingual schools, but thanks to newly-created spelling bees in Spanish -found in New Mexico and New York- as well as thanks to H15 Youth Volunteer Erik, spelling bees are becoming more widely known in public schools.
The kids who participated were from 3rd to 6th grade. They were all very excited to be participating in a spelling bee and studied for weeks with their teacher Ruth, who has been taking them deeper into the amazing world of reading. At the judges table we had myself as the decider - I decided if the word had been spelled correctly. Alexander Nunez (who I work with in the Comvida office) looked up words if anyone asked for a definition. Berta Maria, the director of the Estancia, pronounced the words for the children.
As for the winners! Willian (center, left) came in 3rd place, and while there was no prize for 3rd he did win prize for Best Effort. He spent the most time studying. Also Willian is in third grade and remained in the competition longer than several fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. Very impressive I think!
Pamela (top, right), a fifth grader, placed 2nd and took home a lovely prize of pencils, flip flops, and a cerfticate.
Josiel (bottom, right), a sixth grader, was our winner this year. He took home a nice prize of flip flops, pencils, a notebook, and a certificate.
Everyone worked hard for this spelling bee and the kids definitely have a higher interest in reading and writing. They are anticipating the next bee.
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