FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                       880 S. Lemon Avenue

January 15, 2016                                                                      Walnut, CA 91789

Contact:       

Kelli Gile, Office of Community Resources

[email protected]

(909) 595-1261 ext. 31204

Maple Hill student advances to regional spelling bee

DIAMOND BAR, CA--After an exciting competition, fourth grader Eliana Rodarte was crowned the winner of the Maple Hill Elementary Scripps Spelling Bee on January 14.

The nine-year-old won the school title by correctly spelling “smorgasbord” during a tie-breaking round.

Rodarte will now represent her school in March during the Scripps Inland Valley Regional Spelling Bee semifinals at Mt. San Antonio College.

The regional winner wins a trip to “Bee Week” – the National Spelling Bee Championship in Washington D.C. in May.

“My cheeks are shaking from smiling,” shared the beaming winner after receiving the grand champion trophy.

Rodarte said she had been taking every opportunity to study her words for the past five weeks to prepare for the competition.

“At night right after my homework, at the park, at school, or at recess - any time I have a chance,” she said.

Her strategy: “For the tricky words, I make up tricks to remember the definition.”

In December, each first through fifth grade class at Maple Hill hosted a spelling bee using official Scripps words.

The class winners then received grade level study guides with 500 words (grades 1^st-8^th) to prepare for the finals.

The contest was held in the multipurpose room and streamed live into classes.

The top winners from each grade level received medals and then vied in a nail-biting championship round.

Finalists included Jon Wong - 1^st grade, Jeremiah Ng – 2^nd grade, Bonnie Nien – 3^rd grade, Eliana Rodarte – 4^th grade, and Allison Yuh – 5^th grade

The savvy spellers breezed through tough words, including “hieroglyphic” and “impervious” from the 8^th grade list.

“We had to do a tie breaker or we would have gone all night,” said elementary learning specialist Kelly Morris.

“We are so proud of all of our spellers. You guys are warriors!” she added.

Shown:

Maple Hill Elementary fourth grader Eliana Rodarte won the school’s Scripps Spelling Bee held on January 14. 

Maple Hill finalists compete in the Scripp’s Spelling Bee. 

Grade level finalists Jon Wong, Jeremiah Ng, Bonnie Nien, Eliana Rodarte, and Allison Yuh competed for the school spelling title on January 14.