New York State Spanish spelling bee

Holding the trophies are first-place winner Ruth Senmache from the West Street School in Newburgh and second-place winner Noella Carabajal from PS/IS 218/Rafael Hernandez Dual Language School in the Bronx. The first-place prize was a Dell laptop, donated by McDonald’s, and two round-trip airfares anywhere in the world that JetBlue flies; the runner-up received a cash award donated by McDonald’s. Every participant received a medal and prizes donated by an array of organizations. Seventy-six deletrea­dores — or spellers — from throughout New York State came together on June 3 at UFT headquarters for a marathon, nail-biting Spanish spelling bee. The event is an annual celebration of the study of Spanish in public schools, with winners from spelling bees in each school or district competing against each other. For the first time, grades 4-8 competed against each other rather than in elementary or middle school divisions. Gloria Flores-Lugo, a dual-language coordinator at PS 161 in the Bronx, came with student Rasmel Batista. She said Rasmel “has been preparing for this with her teacher since October! It’s a great event, it brings out the best in our students and gives Spanish the value it deserves.” UFT Secretary Michael Mendel welcomed the large audience to the union’s home and congratulated all the spellers for reaching that stage of the competition. Keynote speakers Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy, both authors, also addressed the group. The event was supported by the New York State Education Department through the Spanish Bilingual Education Technical Assistance Center at New York University.