Spelling Bee Champion

Aubrey's spelling bee for the 3rd-5th graders was in the afternoon. She had worked hard memorizing and reviewing the spelling lists the whole month prior, and we knew she was well-prepared. Turns out, she's a really good speller and quick, too! We knew she knew the words, but we wondered how she would do under pressure and with all those people watching. Turns out, she was calm, cool, and collected, so much so, that we were a little aghast at her confidence and antics while she was sitting up there. As soon as a speller got a letter wrong, she would shake her head sadly, as in, "Nope, that's not it!" and lift her index finger as if she were ringing Mr. Milliken's got-it-wrong bell. It was funny and terrible all at the same time. Oh, Aubrey!

The spelling bee was nerve-racking, exciting, and oh-so-intense at the end! They went through the lists of words the kids had been given and had to move on to another list, which had words the kids had not studied. "Superintendent" was the championship word Aubrey spelled correctly to win. The funny part was our district's superintendent, Dr. Katrisse Perrera was there, right behind the judges table, watching, as Aubrey spelled the word facing her. It was pretty great.  Such a proud moment for us parents. Greg has told the kids each year that he would help them study, if they wanted to put in the time, but none of them have been very interested. This year, Aubrey took him up on it, and her hard work paid off. Greg even ended up coming, at the last minute, to watch the spelling bee. I'm so glad he was there to see her win. Grant's teacher brought Grant in to sit with us when it was down to just a few students. His class had watched for a while but then went back to their classroom. We were especially thankful for his thoughtfulness in bringing Grant back, when she was the one who ended up winning. I loved seeing her classmates surrounding her after she won, too. It was very sweet how they cheered her on and how excited they were when she won.

Now she has to go to the regional Scripps Spelling Bee on March 17th. She's not so sure about that experience, but it'll be good for her to go.