Spelling Bee

It took 19 rounds and 144 words to do it, but Mountain Avenue Elementary student Zerxes Bhadha emerged as the Glendale Unified spelling champion Monday after besting his counterparts from the district's 19 other elementary schools. “He reads a lot so he is he is a natural speller,” his mother, Bucky Bhadha said as she congratulated him after the event. The win was the result of a lot of practice and some steely nerves, the 12-year-old Zerxes said. “I tried to do that so I didn't feel nervous,” he said of his stoic demeanor throughout the competition.

Alecia Foster NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- "Thesis." "I was laughing when I heard that word," said Vanessa Molano, a sixth-grader at R.D. White Elementary School. Molano recognized it from a sound clip she and her friend had heard on a Web site. And she knew how to spell it. With the correct spelling of the word, Molano became the first student from R.D. White Elementary to win the Districtwide Elementary Spelling Bee in the competition's 25-year history, school officials said.

Four Rosemont Middle School students competed in the Glendale Unified School District's Middle School Spelling Bee last week, and two made it to the top six of best spellers in the district. Rosemont students Ellen McNeill, Jessica S. Kim, Galeh Marogossian, and Susan Lee competed in the spelling bee finals at the district's offices Monday night. The district's four middle schools each chose their best spellers in school spelling bees. Those four students went on to the district finals.

A Fremont Elementary School fifth-grader took home the top prize Monday night after out-spelling 19 other students at the Glendale Unified School District’s Elementary School Spelling Bee Finals. Leah Kemp, 10, of Glendale was awarded a trophy, a Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and $50 for being the top speller. In a spell-off round, Leah went up against Alexandria Chwierut, a Lincoln Elementary School sixth-grader. But Leah came out on top after she consecutively spelled two words — “coax” and “souvenir” — correctly.

Judy Seckler WASHINGTON D.C. -- Some 248 kids from all over the 50 states journeyed to Washington, D.C., Wednesday for the preliminary round of the National Spelling Bee, and Glendale was there. The Jewel City was represented by Mariam Firunts, a 13-year-old Toll Middle School student and Southern California Spelling champion. Mariam, 13, began her day of competition at 8 a.m. among 120 contestants. , was eliminated in the third round among 55 contestants.

Presented by Broadway/L.A., "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" will have its Los Angeles premiere at the Wadsworth Theatre on the Veteran Administration grounds in Brentwood for a limited four-week engagement from May 24 to June 17. One of the major hits of the past few seasons, Spelling Bee will enter its third smash year on Broadway on April 15. Starring in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" are the cast that originated these...

Students representing Glendale Unified School District's 20 elementary schools faced off in the district's annual spelling bee finals Monday night. Wasseem Hamadani, a sixth-grader at Balboa Elementary, was the defending champion against 19 other fifth- and sixth-graders from across the district. The district's director of curriculum and instruction, Joel Shapiro, served as pronouncer and coordinators of Project 17 and Gifted and Talented Education, Janet Buhl and Christine Hoehner-m served as judges in the competition.

Toll Middle School student Jacob Deyell got prepared for Monday’s spelling bee by calling his grandmother, who lives in Canada, and going over a list of words over the phone with her. The eighth-grader found that his grandmother, who has an extensive vocabulary, was the best person to help him with pronunciation and spelling of words. “There is a long list of words I have to learn,” said Jacob, 12. Jacob, along with 15 other competitors, had a pre-set list of spelling words that they studied before competing in Monday’s 33rd annual Glendale Unified School District Middle School Spelling Bee Finals, which the Soroptimist International of Glendale sponsored.

Tim Willert DOWNTOWN -- Mariam Firunts is $50 richer today, but the payoff didn't come easy to the Toll Middle School seventh-grader. It took Mariam 19 rounds to win the Glendale Unified School District's middle school spelling bee Monday. Mariam, 12, outlasted Wilson seventh-grader Edgar Shaghoulian by correctly spelling the words "equatorial" and "habitat" to win $50 in prize money. "I might buy my mom something, just because she's a great mother," Mariam said.

Pro-spellers honored by K of C The Knights of Columbus, located in Montrose, held an awards ceremony on Thursday, April 10 to honor the winners of their annual spelling bee that took place in March. The spelling bee included fourth to eighth grade students from local Catholic schools St. Bede, St. James the Less and Holy Redeemer. The spelling bee had each contestant stand and say the word, spell the word and then say the word again. Each student was given the word list for his or her grade level to study beforehand.

It took 19 rounds and 144 words to do it, but Mountain Avenue Elementary student Zerxes Bhadha emerged as the Glendale Unified spelling champion Monday after besting his counterparts from the district's 19 other elementary schools. “He reads a lot so he is he is a natural speller,” his mother, Bucky Bhadha said as she congratulated him after the event. The win was the result of a lot of practice and some steely nerves, the 12-year-old Zerxes said. “I tried to do that so I didn't feel nervous,” he said of his stoic demeanor throughout the competition.

It came down to seven letters — e x c l a i m. It wasn’t the hardest word that Verdugo Woodlands sixth-grader Joshua Choi spelled Monday night, but it sealed his first-place finish at the Glendale Unified district-wide spelling bee. “He is an incredible student,” said Lisa Haug, one of several Verdugo Woodlands teachers who helped Joshua prepare for the competition, as friends and family crowded around the victor....

“Favilla” – not pyroligneous, consuetude shanghaied or any of the other words he spelled earlier – proved to be the downfall of Jeremiah Cortez, an eighth grader at Toll Middle School who on Friday had advanced to the sixth round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Jeremiah, 14, began the competition with 272 other spellers from around the country, progressing to a field of 48 after passing through...

As a La Crescenta resident, the school-wide spelling bee is a really interesting event. Even though elementary school education is mandatory in the United States, many students are not able to write some words. Some students, mostly boys, do not like to read, and their reading ability is poor. Many students have a problem reading and spelling. Their ability is not developed. In my opinion, the best motivation is interest. Many educators recommend helping the student get interested in studying.

LA CRESCENTA — The audience was tense, the contestants nervous and the cafeteria at Mountain Avenue Elementary School silent. Sixth-grader Andrea Aleman had it all on the line. “V-i-g-i-l-a-n-c-e,” she said. With that, Andrea won the Mountain Avenue spelling bee and will represent the school in the districtwide competition Jan. 11. “I was nervous, but it was fun,” she said afterward. After being awarded a certificate, she thanked her parents, who encouraged her and practiced alongside her leading up to the spelling bee. The family wrote out each word, and Andrea’s mother would quiz her regularly.

Fremont Elementary School’s Leah Kemp will not have to “coax” her fellow students into admiring the trophy “souvenir” she will be bringing back to her school for winning first place on Monday in the elementary level of the Glendale Unified District Spelling Bee. Leah, a fifth grader, and Alexandria Chwierut, a sixth grader from Lincoln Elementary, faced each other in a spell-off as the last standing from a spelling field...

A Fremont Elementary School fifth-grader took home the top prize Monday night after out-spelling 19 other students at the Glendale Unified School District’s Elementary School Spelling Bee Finals. Leah Kemp, 10, of Glendale was awarded a trophy, a Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and $50 for being the top speller. In a spell-off round, Leah went up against Alexandria Chwierut, a Lincoln Elementary School sixth-grader. But Leah came out on top after she consecutively spelled two words — “coax” and “souvenir” — correctly.

Toll Middle School student Jacob Deyell got prepared for Monday’s spelling bee by calling his grandmother, who lives in Canada, and going over a list of words over the phone with her. The eighth-grader found that his grandmother, who has an extensive vocabulary, was the best person to help him with pronunciation and spelling of words. “There is a long list of words I have to learn,” said Jacob, 12. Jacob, along with 15 other competitors, had a pre-set list of spelling words that they studied before competing in Monday’s 33rd annual Glendale Unified School District Middle School Spelling Bee Finals, which the Soroptimist International of Glendale sponsored.

Middle school spelling bee The Glendale Unified School District and the Soroptimist International Glendale will host the 33rd annual Middle School Spelling Finals at 7 tonight at the district?s administration center at 223 N. Jackson St. The spelling bee is a districtwide contest that will be televised on Charter Cable Channel 15. Four champion spellers from each middle school, including Roosevelt, Rosemont, Toll and Wilson middle schools, will participate in the contest.