Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
FOREST GROVE, Ore. (AP) — Proud smiles from parents and teachers contrasted the nervous energy burning in their students. Pencils skittered quickly as the children wrote out 20 dictated words to qualify for the spelling bee's oral round.
Ronquido. Chaleco. Naranja.
These are the palabras, or words, of the Oregon Statewide Spanish Spelling Bee, held Friday at Forest Grove School District's administrative offices.
Now in its fifth year, the bee is Oregon's filter for the National Spanish Spelling Bee in New Mexico. Perla Rodriguez, principal of Echo Shaw Elementary School, one of Forest Grove's fully bilingual schools, created the contest along with Susan Rodriguez, who works with the Beaverton School District.
"Definicion?" one student asked of the facilitator before vigorously erasing her last written answer.
The 60 fourth- through eighth-graders had come from as nearby as down the street and as far away as Eugene. Each participating bilingual school sends up to one speller per grade from its own local bee. Among them were native speakers born in Mexico and a handful of Anglo students who've studied Spanish in bilingual programs.
The students took a break for some Mexican pastries as a panel of judges graded their papers to determine the 12 finalists. But 10-year-old Kiara Rivas took it as just another opportunity to study the provided list of words, which she does for about two hours each day.
"It's not just spelling," said her father, Rey Rivas. "It's a life lesson."
Rivas said the bee has given his daughter a confidence she'd never before had, especially after she took the first-place trophy in 2014 as a fourth grader at Beaverton's Vose Elementary School. She went on to take 10th place in the national bee that year.
Rivas sees these Spanish spelling bees as just another way for students to engage with each other and their education. "I get to express my intelligence," said Kiara, with the utmost composure and humility. "It feels good in that way."
And bilingualism? Rivas could likely talk all day about its benefits, calling it "a different way to see life," a tool for helping people.
As Kiara and 11 others took the stage for the oral round, Susan Rodriguez offered some comfort to those left to watch.
"You are a winner if you are here today competing," she said, and any emerging tears dried up when the students heard they were all entitled to a gift bag. For many of them, Rodriguez said, one misspelled word was all that kept them out of the finals. "The competition could not be higher," she said.
The resident spell checker dealt an unapologetic "Incorrecto" to each finalist who flubbed, most of whom received it with a graceful smile. Trophies were given, corrections were made. A conciliatory wink. A proud pat on the back.
One by one, the finalists stepped down from the stage. And one by one, the words got harder.
Exagerar. Turbulento. Sulfurico.
Then it came to the final three. Kiara had made it again, as had Tim Kuskie, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Hillsboro's South Meadows Middle School who took second place in 2014. They were joined by Karla Rivas, Kiara's eighth-grade cousin from Whitford Middle School in Beaverton. Karla had been the bee's champion two years previous.
It was here that the biggest smiles came out. They were riffing on each other's energy, spelling along in pantomime as their competitors stood at the mic. For the approximately 10 minutes that they rotated without a mistake, the bee felt more like a game than a contest, as though they were taking turns stacking blocks to see how high they could go before their tower crashed.
Suddenly, the crash came as Karla made an error and was eliminated. Cordiality remained between Kiara and Tim, the pair that had stood in the same position last year. But now, it was on.
A few words in, Tim confused the similar sounds of LL and Y while attempting to spell "boya." Kiara got a chance to correct it, which she did. And in one fell swoop, with the proper spelling of "pulsador," she clutched a second championship.
Still, there appeared to be no hard feelings.
"It's all about the celebration that we speak the language," Tim said, still buzzing from his success in the contest. Besides, he'll still get to join Kiara and Karla in New Mexico in July.
"Good job, Tim," shouted Rivas from the crowd. He was beaming at another life lesson learned.
___
Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
