Myrtle Cooper Elementary School conducted its second annual Spanish Spelling Bee competition on March 31 at the school.
The event featured students in third through fifth grades who are bilingual or in the district’s Dual Language Program.
Ariel Martinez, a fourth-grade student at Myrtle Cooper, was the first-place winner in the spelling bee.
“I am really excited because I participated last year and wasn’t even close to the top three and now, I’m the winner!” Martinez said. “Knowing two languages is really fun and cool.”
Manuel Saucedo, a third-grade student at Myrtle Cooper, was a close second in the competition.
“I like spelling because you learn and have fun,” Saucedo said.
Parents and family members were invited to attend the competition and show support for their children.
Eduardo Reyes, a third-grade dual language teacher at Myrtle Cooper, said he is happy to have parents attend and see how their kids are doing because they are a crucial part of SISD and essential to student success.
“These kiddos are going above and beyond to learn and becoming biliterate in our program,” Reyes said. “This is a true example of what are kids are capable of doing, and it gets them excited.”
In preparation for the competition, students attended weekly practices after school where they worked with palabras multisilábicas (multisyllabic words) by spelling them out and using proper Spanish grammatical rules.
Reyes initiated the Spanish spelling bee last year to get students excited about learning another language, which he said is especially important considering our proximity to the Mexican border and our bi-cultural community.
The SISD Dual Language Academy started at Myrtle Coper Elementary and Dr. Sue A. Shook Elementary in 2019 and expanded to Bill Sybert School and Hueco Elementary School this school year.
The goal of the program is to promote biliteracy in both English and Spanish.
Reyes said he hopes to have more participants join the competition next year and expand to have a district competition among the other schools within the Dual Language Academy.
Myrtle Cooper Elementary School Spanish Spelling Bee competition event photos
Published May 16, 2023
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