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-Press Release, Granville County Public Schools
Granville County Schools held and sponsored the annual District Spelling Bee for Granville County on the evening of March 14, 2020, at Tar River Elementary School.
Ten elementary schools from around the county, both public and charter, had School Spelling Bees during the first semester of the 2019-20 school year. Each school had talented and dedicated staff that worked diligently to organize their Bee and award a top speller for their school. The District Bee allows those top spellers the chance to compete to win the trophy as best speller of the year for Granville County.
District Spelling Bee winner, Joel Jose, and GCPS Superintendent Alisa McLean (GCPS photo)
The ten winners, just by chance evenly divided between fourth and fifth grades, and their parents met at Tar River for a rehearsal the day before the contest. Amy Lue, Moderator, reviewed the rules and procedures with these sharp students and their families; then Dana King, Word Master, lead them through some practice words at the microphone.
“Holding a practice helps the children understand how the Spelling Bee works and gives them the confidence to perform on stage. This allows their nerves to be for spelling and not on how they need to comport themselves during the event,” commented Mrs. Lue, who was the organizer of the event.
Each contestant received a special t-shirt, provided by Granville County Schools, to wear the next night and keep as a memento of their experience. To prepare, the students studied the official Scripps National Spelling Bee word list of more than 4,000 words for several weeks ahead of the District Bee.
The students buzzed with excitement as they gathered on stage with Mrs. Lue the next night, while their families and teachers found seats in the multi-purpose room. Before the curtain rose, the judges were seated in front of the stage: Mrs. Cathy Frizzle, community volunteer, and Dr. Michael Myrick, and Dr. Stan Winborne, both from Granville County Schools, and Dana King, retired Media Coordinator, as the Word Master. Then Dr. Tonya Thomas welcomed the audience and introduced the spellers.
Contestants were:
Cayden Middleton – fifth-grader from Butner-Stem Elementary
Joel Jiljo Jose – fourth-grader from C. G. Credle School
Belen Elizarraras – fifth-grader from Creedmoor Elementary
Payton Gary – fifth-grader from Falls Lake Academy Charter School
Jordan Hershberger – fourth-grader from Granville Academy
Aubrey Canada – fourth-grader from Mt. Energy Elementary
Jasper Luffman – fourth-grader from Stovall-Shaw Elementary
Morgan Congleton – fifth-grader from Tar River Elementary
Dacari Burrell- fourth-grader from West Oxford Elementary
Bree Blackley – fifth-grader from Wilton Elementary
District Spelling Bee participants pose for a picture with Granville County Schools leaders and staff. (GCPS photo)
Superintendent Dr. Alisa McLean greeted everyone for this annual event, praising them for already being school winners. Mrs. Lue reviewed the rules and explained that contestants would stay on stage for a practice round of spelling before the first round of the Bee began.
Each contestant approached the microphone center stage, the words were pronounced first, and the Word Master gave a definition, the part of speech, and a sentence before the student had a chance to spell. After the practice round, all ten contestants sat up straight and listened carefully as the official first round of the Bee began.
In Round One, two students missed their words, leaving the stage at the end of the round to sit with their families in the audience. No one missed a word in the second round, so all eight contestants were still in the competition. Two more students missed their words in Round Three, as the words became a little more difficult. One student missed in Round 4, and another missed in Round 5.
One student missed a word in each of the next two rounds, leaving Jasper Luffman, from Stovall-Shaw, and Joel Jose, from C. G. Credle, last on stage. Jasper missed his word, and Joel got his correct in Round 8. Then Joel was up for a word in Round 9 and correctly spelled, “culinary,” to win the District Bee. This was his second win, as he was also Granville County Schools’ District Bee Winner in 2019 when he was in the third grade.
All contestants returned to the stage to receive certificates and medals awarded by Dr. McLean and Dr. Thomas. Joel was called back up to receive the trophy, then participants and officials posed for photographs. The evening ended with a reception in the Professional Development Room, with cupcakes and juice provided by Superintendent McLean.
Our winner, Joel, is the son of Jiljo Jose and Sema Jose. He is a current fourth-grader at C.G. Credle Elementary School. He had a large group of family and school supporters in the audience that cheered loudly for him when he won.
Sherrie Burns, principal, and the staff at C.G. Credle were very excited and proud to have the winner for the second year in a row.
Unfortunately, with the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Spelling Bee, which was to be held the last week of May in Maryland was first postponed, then the decision was made to cancel for the first time since World War II.
GCPS winner, Joel, had registered for this event to proudly represent our county for the second time. He will be recognized by the Scripps Spelling Bee organization for his accomplishment in reaching the next level. He will also receive the prizes that would have been awarded to him at the event.
GCPS is proud of Joel and of all the students that competed in our District Bee. We want to thank Granville County Schools for being the sponsor for the Granville County District Bee and providing this opportunity to all Granville County elementary students.
