Spelling bee has students buzzing with excitement
January 24, 2022
Tai Makamura holds the honor of being the only student from Patrick M. Villano School to attend the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. He competed in 2018 as a sixth-grader, but didn’t win the national bee.
Spell “bachelorette”. Not as easy as it looks.
“Yes, a crazy word for me to spell, and 10 year old me could not spell it correctly,” explained Brianna Tannenholz. The sixth grade student from Patrick M. Villano School went on to spell another word correctly and win her homeroom Spelling Bee.
“It was super fun winning the class Spelling Bee because it was the overall experience knowing that I can spell and just competing,” said Tannenholz.
Each homeroom class participated in a spelling bee last week. The winner advances to a schoolwide spelling bee later this month. The person who wins first place in the schoolwide bee moves on to the county tournament. The national bee in Washington, D.C. is the ultimate goal.
“Yes. I really want to win because it was so much fun, and I can not wait for this year’s [schoolwide] Spelling Bee!” Tannaenholz exclaimed.
The school’s Student Congress advisers organize the spelling bees. One adviser is the school’s new Health and Wellness teacher, Colleen Malzahn.
“I am extremely excited about my first spelling bee at Villano,” Maltzan said. “I love every opportunity that I can get to learn more about each of my students. Having every student in the school in class allows me to get to know everyone, but I’m excited to see how some students excel in different areas, such as spelling.”