This past weekend, the Peace Corps hosted the 2nd annual National Spelling Bee in Skopje. Over 500 students, ranging from 5th grade to senior year of high school came from all over Macedonia to spell. I was not able to bring any of my students from Resen, because during the time that Spelling Bee qualifiers were happening we had the ministry visiting our school and I thought that it would be too much; but there is always next year. So this year I went to volunteer and scope how the Bee worked and it was a good thing I did; because then next year we will be prepared. It was a long, hot day (80 degrees) and the Bee was at the American College, a very nice place but no AC. I left Resen at 5am and arrived in Skopje around 9ish. I had some errands to run, theVero for tortilla chips and Coronas (I made nachos!!!), and then I headed over to the Bee. When I arrived, all the 5th and 6th graders were still getting registered. There were over 350 students just in the 5th and 6th grade round and as you can see from the picture......
they do not understand the concept of a line. This plus some parents and teachers made the registration room a bit crowded. Once everyone was registered and had a number, they were ready to start the Bee, a little behind schedule. The biggest group was up first. The students were divided into 2 rooms, evens and odds. They brought all the 5th and 6th graders upstairs to the 2 rooms where they would have the Bee. At the beginning they had all the students upstairs in lines in one hallway, but then PCorps volunteers got the idea to have the students serpentine down the stairs to give people more room and oxygen.
The even numbered students all in line ready to spell.
And the odd numbered students working their way down 3 flights of steps. This was where I spent most of my time. The students liked to talk and since they were in a stairwell, their voices carried making it hard for people in the room to hear what was going on and the kids to hear the words they needed to spell. So who would be better for the job then "teacher Michelle". It was funny since none of the other volunteers have met or seen "teacher Michelle" in action; they were very surprised. "My stairwell", as I referred to it, it was relatively quiet and the kids were very good. I was stern when I needed to be and made sure that the students were staying to one side; but we also had some fun since no one likes to stand in a stairwell for hours and only move up one stair every 5 minutes or so. How the Bee worked was:
When it was their turn, they were given one word to spell (from the list of words that they were given beforehand). They had to write it correctly on the white board. If they got it correct, they went to the end of the line and waited to spell another word, if not.....
then they were given a certificate. Every student got one. After 3 rounds they went to the "Bonus round" where the students were given harder words that were not on their lists. The students were suppose to be "dropping like flies" during the bonus round, but we had to do a few of them to get the line down to a good number because of the number of students we had. When the lines dwindled down a bit, they combined the even and odd numbered students in one room and continued to make the words harder to get a winner. Four hours later we had our 5th and 6th grade winner. Then it was time for the 7th and 8th grade round and then the high school round. I stayed and helped start the 7th and 8th grade round but then had to leave to catch the last bus back to Resen. It was a long but very exciting day. I am very glad that I went because if Irena and I decide to bring students next year I have a plan!!! lol
National Spelling Bee Plan for 2012:
- Travel with our own bus.
- Have all Resen students wear the same colored shirt.
- Have them bring bag lunches, snacks, and drinks.
- Bring things to play with or do.
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