Hickory Creek Middle School Spelling Bee

Twelve students competed in the Hickory Creek Middle School Spelling Bee on January 31.  This was the school’s inaugural spelling bee and it was sponsored by the Family School Partnership organization. Conducted as part of the Scripps National Spelling Bee Association, the school winner will go on to compete at the Will County Spelling Bee in the spring.  County winners compete at the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. in May

Hickory Creek Principal, Dr. Kevin Suchinski, congratulated the sixty students who chose to participate in their classroom spelling bee.  The four highest scorers from their sixth, seventh and eighth grade classroom spelling bee were selected to participate in the school bee.  They include eighth graders Riley Masterson, Brendon McCray, Lauren Sandberg and Nathan Co, seventh graders Connor Knutson, Emma Mize, Kate Sorensen and Nick Thornbury, and sixth graders Kendall Blankenburg, Brooke Nickelson, Husna Hussaini and Jade Baptiste.

The pronouncer for the spelling bee was District 157-C Assistant Superintendent Curt Saindon and judges included teachers Suzanne Sandowski, Tania Wilson and Karen Ryan. 

Following a practice round, students took turns spelling words from the 2014 School Pronouncer Guide as provided by the Scripps National Spelling Bee Association.  Students went through several rounds and were eliminated if they spelled their word incorrectly. Mr. Saindon pronounced the word at least once and the speller had to repeat the word back and then spell the word. Prior to spelling the word, students had the opportunity to ask for the pronunciation again, as well as the word’s origin, part of speech, definition, alternate pronunciations and to use it in a sample sentence.

In the championship round with only two students left, eighth grade student Riley Masterson won the spelling bee, with eighth grade student Lauren Sandberg the first runner-up. Dr. Suchinski congratulated the spelling bee participants for displaying outstanding character and supporting each other with “high five’s” whether their friends spelled their words correctly or not.  He stated, “These students were very brave to come out here and compete in front of over 900 students plus the staff.  We congratulate them.”