GGUSD Names Irvine Intermediate Student Champion of District Spelling Bee

• Monday, January 30, 2017
• Irvine Intermediate

Irvine Intermediate School seventh grader Genevie Nguyen earned the title of champion of the district’s 30th Annual Spelling Bee for seventh and eighth grade students. The event was held January 25 at the Edgar District Meeting Center.

Genevie correctly spelled the deciding word, platitudes, becoming the top speller among more than 7,500 intermediate school students in GGUSD. English Language Arts Department Chairperson, Sharlene Tartaglini, served as the coach, alongside colleague, Barrilyn Kaa, for the four spelling bee contestants from Irvine Intermediate School.

“Our seventh and eighth grade spellers were truly impressive and tackled some very difficult words,” said Teri Rocco, Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Education trustee. “It was clear that these students had committed a lot of hard work into developing their strong spelling skills.”

Genevie competed for first place with Tracy Nguyen also of Irvine Intermediate School, who finished second. Both were followed by Lucy Do of Alamitos Intermediate School, third place; and Pierre Bui of Alamitos Intermediate School, fourth place. Other honored participants included Amy Trinh of Jordan Intermediate School, fifth place; Ashlie Benitez of Fitz Intermediate School, sixth place; Ethan Dao of Ralston Intermediate School, seventh place; Joey Pham of Jordan Intermediate School, eighth place; Caleb Hoerner of Bell Intermediate School, ninth place; and Theresa Nguyen of Lake Intermediate School, tenth place.

The district champion and the nine runners-up will represent the district at the Orange County Spelling Competition, with the written segment scheduled February 21, followed by the deciding oral spelling round on February 25; both will be held at the Orange County Department of Education.

Each of the district’s 10 intermediate schools entered its four best spellers in the district competition. Contestants were asked to spell such words as patronymic, aspidistra, and recherché.

School Board members Teri Rocco and Walter Muneton presented trophies to the top 10 spellers, and all contest entrants received certificates of participation.

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