Geography and Spelling Bees
Photos from the 2010-2011 Spelling Bee
Caroline Osterman Repeats as Spelling Bee Champion!
Spelling words is never an easy task. Especially if you have to spell them in front of the entire school. Well, for 8th grader Caroline Osterman, spelling words in public has become a specialty. That's because Osterman defended her SPELLING BEE crown with a correct spelling of "quotient" to defeat 6th grader Kelsea Williams and be named the 2010-2011 ST. MICHAEL'S SPELLING BEE CHAMPION.
The contestants were the following:
4th Grade: Hayley Allen and Kyle Webster
5th Grade: Sierra Martin and Claire Jahns
6th Grade: Julia Rinaldo and Kelsea Williams
7th Grade: Killian Randle and Caroline Rojas
8th Grade: Brett Halverson and Osterman
Overall: 39 of the 53 words heard were spelled correctly. By the first four rounds, six contestants were out of the competition with tricky words like dwelling, innocent, knowingly, visibility, abolitionists, and crocodile.
The final four included Halverson, Randle, Williams and Osterman. In round five, Halverson missed a 'p' in the word 'yippee.' In Round Six, Randle went out when he whisked through the word 'celery' by starting out with an 's.' Believe me, this spelling thing isn't easy.
It came down to Osterman and Williams as the final two contestants. In Round 8, Williams misspelled abominable which gave Osterman a shot at the title. But Osterman stumbled on the word 'grievance' and the battle continued.
The duo properly spelled words like 'despicable,' 'prejudice,' 'intellectual,' and 'impromptu.' In the third overtime Williams missed a letter in 'supremacy,' allowing Osterman victory with proper spellings of:
UNCHANGEABLE and QUOTIENT.
Congratulations to our 2009-2010 Geography Bee Champion, Jessica Busby!
Congratulations to all of the our contestants:
Grade 4: Sam Paragary and Max Dunn
Grade 5: Joe Hart and Kelsea Williams (Runner-up)
Grade 6: Monica Kelly (3rd Place) and Theo Christopulos
Grade 7: Julia Eggert and Jake Keaton
Grade 8: Jessica Busby (Champion) and Savannah Symister
Academic Honors
Students in grades 6 -8 receive honors with the following grade averages in the major subjects of English grammar and writing, Literature, Mathematics, Science, History, and Spanish) and no grade below 70:
High Honors- a grade average between 95 and 100 in the major subjects
Honors- a grade average between 90 and 94
Merit- a grade average between 85 and 89
Citizenship Honors
Honors - is awarded to the student who receives an A in citizenship in every subject to acknowledge the student whose attitude, effort, and conduct are exemplary.
Merit - is awarded to the student who receives an A or B citizenship grade in all subjects to acknowledge the student whose attitude, effort, and conduct are commendable.
National Academic and Creative Writing Competitions
8th graders participate in the following national competitions each year:
National Spanish Exam - in 2007, one silver medal and four bronze medals
National Latin Exam - in 2007, three Outstanding Achievement Awards, and six Certificates of recognition
Daughters of the American Revolution Historical Writing Contest
- since 1997, 10 winners
National Council of Teachers of English Promising Young Writers Award - since 1995, 12 winners
Young Poets Anthology of Poetry- in 2007, sixteen students with published poetry
