NewsUpper SchoolStudent LifePre-K to 8ServiceAcademics
Al-Sayed competes in state spelling bee
Mar 9, 2005 8:00 AM
By Tannika King - Faculty
After doing well at the school and district levels, Mary Al-Sayed was selected to compete in the Georgia Independent School Association (GISA) Middle School State Spelling Bee, held Feb. 25 at Tattnall Square Academy in Macon, Ga.
She advanced to Round Two of the competition, the written test portion, which English teacher Ken Wempe calls “a great accomplishment.”
According to English teacher Nancy Ivester, the spelling bee starts off each year at the Middle School. All students compete in this round, which includes a written spelling test of 50 words given in all English classes.
“The English teachers make the lists according to their grade level,” said Ivester. “The goal is to get the best speller. We take the top spellers in each grade and give them another test of 25 words. By the third round, there are usually about 10 students left.”
This year, Al-Sayed and eighth-grader Patrick Pierson represented the School at the GISA District Spelling Bee at Walker School in Marietta on Feb. 11.
Merchuria Chase Williams, president of the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE), said that from the start of the individual school Bees last month, every winner along the way is a champion, whether representing his or her local school, home, school system, community or spelling bee district.
“The Bees not only help students in their spelling and reading, but they also teach our children about competition and how to both win and lose graciously,” she said. “Win or lose, these are lessons they will carry with them throughout their lives.”
The Atlanta Daily World and GAE co-sponsor the State Spelling Bee, which decides Georgia’s representative to the National Spelling Bee sponsored by Scripps-Howard. The national Bee is traditionally held in Washington, D. C.
This is not the first year Darlington Middle School students have been successful in the spelling bee. Last year, current ninth-grader Jeff Porter won Rounds Two and Three (oral test) of the GISA State Bee and went on to finish fifth in the state of Georgia.
Al-Sayed is the daughter of Dr. Laura and Al Al-Sayed of Rome, Ga.
She advanced to Round Two of the competition, the written test portion, which English teacher Ken Wempe calls “a great accomplishment.”
According to English teacher Nancy Ivester, the spelling bee starts off each year at the Middle School. All students compete in this round, which includes a written spelling test of 50 words given in all English classes.
“The English teachers make the lists according to their grade level,” said Ivester. “The goal is to get the best speller. We take the top spellers in each grade and give them another test of 25 words. By the third round, there are usually about 10 students left.”
This year, Al-Sayed and eighth-grader Patrick Pierson represented the School at the GISA District Spelling Bee at Walker School in Marietta on Feb. 11.
Merchuria Chase Williams, president of the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE), said that from the start of the individual school Bees last month, every winner along the way is a champion, whether representing his or her local school, home, school system, community or spelling bee district.
“The Bees not only help students in their spelling and reading, but they also teach our children about competition and how to both win and lose graciously,” she said. “Win or lose, these are lessons they will carry with them throughout their lives.”
The Atlanta Daily World and GAE co-sponsor the State Spelling Bee, which decides Georgia’s representative to the National Spelling Bee sponsored by Scripps-Howard. The national Bee is traditionally held in Washington, D. C.
This is not the first year Darlington Middle School students have been successful in the spelling bee. Last year, current ninth-grader Jeff Porter won Rounds Two and Three (oral test) of the GISA State Bee and went on to finish fifth in the state of Georgia.
Al-Sayed is the daughter of Dr. Laura and Al Al-Sayed of Rome, Ga.
