The room was buzzing at St. Theresa Catholic School as the spellers got ready to start the spelling bee. There were two divisions; one for sixth through eighth grade, and the second for third through fifth grade.
One by one, each student approached the microphone to spell the presented word. “Fuddy duddy,” “biology,” “clodhopper,” “bedraggled,” “marionette,” “gesticulations,” …the words continued and the throng of spellers started to dwindle.
“Malacca,” said Mercy Sori, fifth grade Language Arts teacher and organizer of the spelling bees.
“Would you use that word in a sentence, please,” said Alexis Penalver, fifth grader.
“David’s walking stick is made from a single stem of Malacca.”
“M-a-l-a-c-c-a, Malacca,” Alexis answered.
“Correct, and on to round 24!”
After one hour of fierce spelling, the winners were named — School Champions Natalia Llanso, eighth grade, and Alexis Penalver, fifth grade. The runners up for each division were Carolina de la Vega, seventh grade, and Sven Stumbauer, fourth grade.
The winners of each division represented St. Theresa School at the 77th annual Miami Herald Spelling Bee on Mar. 7 at Jungle Island.
Toni Pallatto is director of advancement for St. Theresa Catholic School.
