001test test. Good morning everyone and welcome to our annual district middle school spelling be. My name is Aaron English. I'm the director of inclusion here in Central Unified School District. Our supervisor of library services, Janet Wild, could not be here today, but I'm happy to provide this introduction for this event. Um, do we have any alternate spellers in the audience today? No. Okay. At this point in time, then I will go ahead and ask everyone to stand up so that we may participate in the flag salute. Let us salute to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you so much. Before we begin, I'd like to first of all thank everyone, especially um our students who
002are here today and congratulate them for coming and participating in this opportunity. Thank you for participating in your school spelling bee and thank you participating here today in our district spelling bee and we are thrilled to have you here. We know that it takes a lot of um hard work and dedication and we know that it can be unnerving sometimes to come up. I myself am a central um unified alumni and sat on this stage many many years ago and participated in the middle school spelling be myself. So I really well maybe not this stage but um I myself understand how um nervous and nerve-wracking it can be but knowing that you can do your best and really showcase the skills that you have for us. So congratulations for being here and if we can
003just give an applause for all the students who are here today. There are also a number of people here today that help make this spelling be possible. First of all, we want to just um thank those who may or not be may or may not be in the audience. We can hold our applause to the end, but just to honor them and share the special recognition that they have contributed to this event. our Central Unified Foundation for providing our funding for certificates, medals, and entry fees to the county competition, our superintendent, Dr. Mark Marshall, and our assistant superintendent of educational services, Julia McClennon, and thank you also to our board of trustees for sponsoring and supporting our curricular events throughout the school year. If we can go ahead and give them applause right now. We
004would like to also honor some of our distinguished staff who are helping out at this event. We have um our judges today. If judges, if you can just raise your hand. We have Jason Horseman, the director of STEM education from Fresno County Superintendent of Schools. Myself will also be judging today. Um and then finally, we also have Valerie Garcia who is part of our foundation board. She is our treasurer. Others who are participating, we have um our timekeeper and round monitor. Um we have um and our dictionary monitor, Courtney Roatista, who is our research evaluation and assessment technician. Please raise your hand. Thank you. And then also Miss Linda Barker, our district library resource assistant. In the back far back there, we have Jason Dumbar who oversees this pack that our performance art center that
005we're in running all of our sound technology and lights. So, if we can go ahead and give him a round of applause. Thank you. And then finally, um, our spell master today is our assistant superintendent of education services, Julia McClennon. Finally, we like to thank all of our coaches who've helped our students get to this point and helped prepare them. We like to thank you to our parents, families, and friends who've supported our students throughout the way. So, if we can go ahead and give them a round of applause and just once again, thank you for being present today. and we are so excited to have our students here and we're so excited that you took time out of your schedule to participate in this event. I will now um ask our spellmaster to come
006on stage. Good morning. students up now or in a few moments. Okay, we'll call the students to the stage. I do ask that whatever you're wearing, if it's a jacket or anything, please make sure your name badge is clearly visible with your number. Come on up. Welcome. Get comfortable for a moment. Shake out the hand. Shake out a little bit of a nerves because, you know, just getting up on a stage adds something. All right. I'm going to review the specifics for today's competition. Cell phones and smartwatches are not allowed. Does anyone have one that they need to drop off? Okay. Go ahead and hand it to someone off stage. We also ask that everyone in the audience please silent your devices as well because they can be distracting and throw off someone who's in
007the middle of a spelling round. Students have been assigned numbers based on the reverse alphabetical order starting with Z and ending with A. And we're going to have everybody stand for just a moment to stretch and get a little bit of the nervousness out and take a group photo. All right. And now the rules. The student will come to the microphone. I will say the word. I will use it in a sentence. and then I will say the word again. You will have 60 seconds to spell the word correctly. You may not write the word down on paper, but you can write the word with your finger in your hand to visualize it. And you can write it in the air to visualize it if you need to. You need to say the word and
008then spell it and say it again, which will tell the judges that you are finished. After the student has begun spelling a word, a contestant may stop and start over, spelling from the beginning. But you cannot change any letters or their sequence in any way. If you do, you are disqualified. So think carefully before you start. So if you start to spell the word bridge and you say bridge, br i g, and you think about it. If you start over, you have to say E R I G before you continue on. You can't change those first letters. All right. At the end of each round, you have uh contestants who have been misspelled or contestants who have misspelled will be excused. So, if you think you've misspelled or they've told you that the word was
009wrong, go ahead and take your seat again till the end of the round. I can use any word in a sentence in case it is a homonym. So, when I give you the sentence, it'll tell you which word we're talking about. And you can also ask for the definition, origin, part of speech, or ask to have the word said again. The 60 seconds does not start until all questions have been answered. So, if you need to ask, go ahead and do that at the very beginning. Students will return to their seats after the judge's ruling. In the final round, if only one speller spells the word correctly, all participants still competing will remain on stage while the speller continues with a one-word round. If that second word is correct, they will be champion. If they
010miss the word, we move to the next round and all participants on stage still get to continue. If needed, there may be a spell off for second and third place. The top two will go to the county with the third place winner acting as the alternate in case of one of the other two spellers is unable to go. Before we start our practice round, I'd like to administer the integrity pledge. But before we do that, do you have any questions about the rules? No. All right. Raise your right hand. Please repeat after me. I am honest to myself. I am fair to my classmates and teachers. On my honor, I will neither give nor receive any help during this spelling be. All right, everybody take a big deep breath and hold it for a second.
011Let it out. All right, we will begin practice rounds. In this round, you're going to come up to the microphone just to get used to coming up to the microphone. You're going to introduce yourself by your name and your school. Do your best to speak into the microphone. And it's important that you speak up and you speak clearly when you say your letters. All right, first round. Number one, Aurora Wilkinson. >> I'm Aurora Wilkinson and I'm from Rio Vista Middle School. Aurora, your first word is giant. The giant marshmallows made very tasty s'mores. Giant. >> Giant. G I A N T. Giant. >> That is correct. >> Number two. My name is Dr. Kar Singh and I'm from Leo Vista. Your first word is raindrop. >> Raindrop. R A I N D R O P.
012Raindrop. >> That is correct. >> Nice. Remember, I'm going to say the word. Read a sentence and say the word just to give you some time to think about it for a second and understand the word clearly. Number three. Number four. Oops. Sorry. Number five. My name is Napre Cara and I'm from Glacier Point Middle School. >> Your word is rock. Jerry found a shiny black rock on the beach. Rock. >> Rock. R O C K. Rock. That is correct. >> Number seven. My name is Cadence Hill and I'm from El Capetan Middle School. >> Your word is bucket. Georgia, let Liza know that there was a hole in the water bucket. Bucket. >> Bucket. B U C K E T. Bucket. That is correct. Number eight. Hello, my name is Carter Gunstrom. >> What
013school are you from, Carter? >> Uh, Rio Vista. >> Nice. Your word is loop. The road makes a wide loop around the lake. Loop. >> Loop. L O O P. Loop. >> That is correct. >> Number 10. >> My name is Aubrey Dry and I'm from Glacier. Step just a little bit closer to the mic when you're doing your words. There you go. Your word is token. Ken, put another token into the arcade machine to play the game again. Token. >> Token. T O C K E N. Token. >> I'm sorry that is incorrect. Go ahead and take your seat. >> The correct spelling is to o ken token. >> All right. Remember this is a practice round. So this is the time to get the nervous energy out because it can make you make
014those mistakes. No, not a problem. >> We are on student 11. >> Hello, my name is Sawyer. I'm from Hton County. >> Your word is glide. Birds, ships, dancers, and skaters glide. Glide. >> Glide. G L I D E. Glide. That is correct. Number 12. >> My name is William Bowser. I'm from Rio Vista Middle School. >> Your word is vest. Zach wore a suit with a vest under the jacket for his wedding. >> Vest. V. Vest. >> That is correct. >> Number 14. Hi, my name is Jazz Caral and I'm from Glacier Point Middle School. >> Your word is item. Bread was an item on their shopping list. Item. >> Item. I t e m item. >> That is correct. >> Number 15. >> Hi, my name is Rajria and I'm from El Capetan
015Middle School. Your word is nook. Matilda was excited to find a nook in the bedroom of her grandmother's house and declared it her reading spot. Nook. Your word is nook. Matilda was excited to find a nook in the bedroom of her grandmother's house and declared it her reading spot. Nook. >> Nook. N O K. Nook. >> That is correct. All right, everybody have the rhythm? You're good. One more deep breath in and hold it for a second. Judges will be going to page one of the white section. First round, student number one. Your word is exhale. We exhale air from our lungs. Exhale. >> Exhale. E X H A L E. Exhale. >> That is correct. >> Number two. Your word is message. When Margaret returned home, she noticed that there was a message for
016her on her phone. Message. >> Message. M E S S A G E. Message. That is correct. >> Number five. Your word is lobbyist. He was a lobbyist for the oil companies. Lobbyist. >> Um, could I have the origin? >> I'm sorry. Part of speech and definition. >> Oh, that's my fault. >> Could I have the definition? >> Lobbyist. A person who tries to influence members of a lawmaking body in their votes or executives in their administration of laws, especially a member of a group. Lobby having special interests or favoring particular legislation. Lobbyist. >> Lobbyist. L O B I E S T. Lobbyist. >> I'm sorry, that is incorrect. The correct spelling is L O B Y S T. Lobbyist. Thank you. Seven. Your word is tissue. The science teacher has stored samples of muscle,
017brain, and skin tissue. Tissue. >> Tissue. T I S S U E. Tissue. >> That is correct. Your word is gaunt. A long illness contributed to Lett's newly gaunt appearance. Gaunt. >> Gaunt. G. A U N T. G. >> That is correct. We're going to go to page two. Your word is dosage. The correct dosage is very important in the treatment of sickness. Dosage. >> Dosage. D O U S A G E. I'm sorry, that is incorrect. The correct spelling is D O S A G E. Do number 11. Your word is deluxe. Simone enjoyed the deluxe spa experience her children gave her for Mother's Day. Deluxe. >> Deluxe. B E L U X E Deluxe. >> That is correct. >> Number 12. >> Your word is seized. The officer searched and seized all of
018the evidence present. Seized. >> Seized. S E I Z E D. Seized. That is correct. Number 14. Your word is patron. I'm sorry. My fault. The patron brought food each day at the grocery. Patron. >> Patron. P A T R I O N. Patron. That is incorrect. The correct spelling is P A T R O N. Patron. Your word is neaten. With her parents due to arrive any minute, Sarah rushed about trying to neaten her dorm room. Newton. >> Newton. N E A T E N. Mean >> that is correct. >> Going to page three. The end of round one. So, at this time, we're going to end round one with um spellers 5, 10, and 14. Go ahead and take your seats in the audience. Congratulations contestants. Round two. Aurora. Student number one. Your
019word is obliterate. Scientists warned that the active volcano threatens to obliterate the nearby town. Obliterate. My apologies. Page one of round two. Yellow. Sorry, you don't get that word yet. We're going to take that word out of it because you're not stepping up to that one yet. You're still warming up. This is my fault. We're going to go to page 22. Try again. Ready? All right. Your word is stadium. The stadium was filled for the final baseball game. Stadium. Stadium. S T A D I U M stadium. That is correct. Number two, your word is financial. His financial affairs are in bad condition. Financial. >> Financial. F I N A N C I A L financial. >> That is correct. >> Number seven. Your word is enormous. Long ago, enormous shaggy mammoths lived on the
020earth. Enormous. >> Enormous. E N O R M O U S. Enormous. >> That is correct. >> Number eight. Your word is fidelity. When taking the oath of office, the president of the United States pledges fidelity to the Constitution. Fidelity. Fidelity. When taking the oath of office, the President of the United States pledges fidelity to the Constitution. Fidelity. Fidelity. F I D E L I T Y. Fidelity. >> That is correct. >> Your word is negative. His negative attitude prevented him from becoming student of the month. Negative. >> Negative. N E G I T I V E. >> That is incorrect. The correct spelling is N E G A T I V. Negative. Going to page 23. Go ahead. Number 12. Your word is diameter. The diameter is the center measurement of a circle from
021one side to the other. Diameter. >> Diameter. D I A M E T E R. Diameter. >> That is correct. Number 15. Your word is emergency. I keep spare tire in my car for use in an emergency. Emergency. E M E R G E N A C Y. Emergency. >> I'm sorry, that is incorrect. The correct spelling is E M E R G E N C Y. Emergency. >> Thank you. >> That concludes round two. 11 and 15. Thank you very much. Go ahead and join the audience. We're going to go to page 26. Everybody on stage, take a deep breath. Hold that for a second and then let it out slowly. All right, number one. I said 27, right? 26. Pick off the right page here. Your word is algebra. Mr. Lopez teaches algebra
022at the high school level. Algebra. >> Algebra. A L G E B R A. Algebra. >> That is correct. Number two. Your word is vocabulary. Reading will build your vocabulary. Vocabulary. >> Vocabulary. V O C A V U L A R Y. Vocabulary. >> That is correct. >> Number seven. >> Your word is sponsor. The television sponsor played too many commercials. Sponsor. >> Um, can I have a definition, please? >> Sponsor: A company, store, or other business firm that pays the costs of a radio or television program during which its products or services are advertised. Sponsor. >> Sponsor. S P O N S E R sponsor. >> I'm sorry, that is incorrect. The correct spelling is S P O N S O R sponsor. Number eight. Your word is shepherd. The shepherd tended his sheep.
023Shepherd. Shepherd. The shepherd tended his sheep. Shepherd. Shepherd. S H A P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P A A R D Shephard. >> I'm sorry, that is incorrect. The correct spelling is S H E P H E R D. Shepherd. >> Number 12. Going to page 27. Your word is calligraphy. Calligraphy is often used on certificates because of its beauty. Calligraphy. >> Calligraphy. C A L I G R A P H Y. Calligraphy. I'm sorry, that's incorrect. Correct spelling is C A L L I G R A P H Y. >> Thank you. Okay. So, contestants one and two, you're going to relax for a moment is my understanding. Okay. So, you get to take some deep breaths and chill
024out for just a few moment. your brain. Um, our other three students are in a spell off for third place. correct spell in order to >> so reminding you of the rules of any spell off. What happens is all students will be asked to spell a word. If only one of those students spells it correctly, everybody stays on the stage. That student has to spell a second word to finalize their win. If they miss the second word, all students begin again and are still in the round. All right, does that make sense? All right, here we go. Let's see. Do you want to sit in the front so you're not all by yourself? Okay. All right. Number seven. We're still on page 27. Judges, >> your word is instinct. Birds do not learn to build
025nests, but build them by instinct. Instinct. >> Um, can I have a point of origin, please? >> I don't have points of origin. Apologies. So, I have a definition and parts of speech. >> Some parts of speech, please. >> It's a noun. >> Okay. Instinct. I N S T I N T instinct. That is incorrect. So the correct spelling is Okay. So, the correct spelling is I N S T I N C T instinct. Thank you. Number eight. Your word is nucleus. The nucleus of a cell is the center of the cell. Nucleus. Nucleus. N U C L E O U S nucleus. That is incorrect. The correct spelling is N U C L E U S. Number 12. Your word is astronaut. He was an astronaut on Apollo 13. Astronaut. >> Astronaut. A S
026T R O N A U T astronaut. >> That is correct. >> Remain standing. >> So if you spell the second word, the round is over. If you do not spell the second word correctly, everyone still in this part is in the round. Your word is environment. Our city traffic creates an unhealthy air environment. environment. E N V I R O N M E N T environment. >> That is correct. Congratulations. Okay, so William will be our third place winner today. Thank you for that spell off for third place. All three of you may go ahead and take your seat in the audience. William, we're going to call you back up in a little bit. Round of applause for everyone in those rounds. All right, deep breath in. couple of them. Are we on the
027yellows at this point or are we still on the white? Okay, we're going to move to page 31 to do some warm up here. Ready? Number one, your word is abandoned. The boys often play in the abandoned house. Abandoned. >> Abandoned. A B A N D O N E D. Abandoned. That is correct. Number two. Your word is ignorant. People who live in the city are often ignorant of farm life. Ignorant. >> Ignorant. I g n o r a n t. Ignorant. >> That is correct. >> Oh, next round. Number one. Your word is eminence. The lighthouse was built on an eminence rising many feet above the shore. Imminence. >> Eminence. I am M E N E C E. >> I'm sorry that is incorrect. The correct spelling is E M I N E N
028C E Minance. >> Thank you. Number two, your word is chaotic. The town was in a chaotic condition after the flood. >> Chaotic. C H A O T I C. Chaotic. >> That is correct. >> Remain standing. Your word is decelerate. The driver began to decelerate as he rounded the bend. Decelerate. D E A C E L E R A T E. Decelerate. >> I'm sorry, that's incorrect. Correct spelling. D E C E L E R A T E. >> Take your seat. Everybody still in it? Deep breath again because you were holding your breath up here you guys. All right. Number one. Your word is metallic. The new car was a bright metallic green. Metallic. >> Metallic. M E T A L L I C. Metallic. >> That is correct. Number two. Your word
029is laurate. Redard Kipling was a poet laurate of England. Laurate. >> Laurant. L O R I E N T. Laurant. That is incorrect. Twice go ahead. >> So the word is laurate. Reard Kipling was a poet laurate of England. Laurate. >> Laurate. L O R Y E T Laurate. >> I'm sorry that's incorrect. Correct spelling is L A U R E A T E. Laurate. >> Thank you. Thank you for correcting me on the way that was one of those words, huh? All right. So, do I start with one or two on this round number one? Your word is scrimmage. The two teams lined up to take part in the scrimmage. Scrimmage. >> Scrimmage. S C R I M A G E scrimmage. That is correct. Number two, your word is impertinent. The girl made
030an impertinent reply that angered her mother. Impertinent. >> Impertinent. I M P E R P I N E N Pant. >> That is correct. Number one. Turning to page 32. Your word is fascination. He had a fascination with old radios. Fascination. F A S C I N A T I O N. Fascination. >> That is correct. >> Your word is chandelier. One by one, each chandelier in the US capital has been taken down, disassembled, washed prism by prism, re reassembled, and rehung. Chandelier. >> Chandelier. C H A N D E L I E R. Chandelier. >> That is correct. >> All right. Number one, your word is antibiotic. Mo's doctor gave him an antibiotic for his sinus infection. Antibiotic. Antibiotic. A N T I B I O T I C. Anti biotic. That is correct.
031Number two, your word is filibuster. There was a three-hour filibuster against the new bill in the Senate. Filibuster. >> Filibuster. P H I L A V U S P Rabuster. >> That is incorrect. >> Okay, so you're going to come up and you're going to tackle that one. Your word is filibuster. There was a three-hour filibuster against the new bill in the Senate. Filibuster. >> Filibuster. F I L L A B U S T E R. Filibuster. >> That is incorrect. The correct spelling is F I L I B U S T E R. >> Stay up there. You get your own word. Now going to the next round. Your word is visionary. The visionary described a utopia that could never exist. Visionary. >> Visionary. V I S I O N A R Y. Visionary.
032>> That is correct. >> Your word is irregular. It would be quite irregular for a child of 10 to drive a car. Irregular. >> Irregular. I R R E G U L A R. Irregular. That is correct. Going to page 33. Your word is loiter. Individuals who loiter in the mall are often asked to leave. Loiter. >> Loiter. L O I T E R. Loiter. >> That is correct. >> Number two. Your word is oracle. After 35 years in the banking business, Anika was regarded as an oracle by her peers and her opinions were taken seriously. Oracle. >> Oracle. O R A C L E. Oracle. >> That is correct. >> Deep breath. We're going to head to the yellow sheets. Page two in the yellow. Your word is gregarious. Sheep and cattle are gregarious.
033Raccoons are not. Gregarious. Gregarious. G R I G A R I O U S. That is incorrect. Number two, your word is gregarious. Sheep and cattle are gregarious. Raccoons are not gregarious. >> Gregarious. G R I G G A R I O U S. Gregarious. That is incorrect. Correct spelling is G R E G A R I O U S. All right, deep breath. Next round. Your word is edible. The flowers on the cake are edible. Edible. Edible. E D I B L E. Edible. That is correct. Your word is unique. The unique artwork was perfect for framing. Unique. >> Unique. U N I Q U E. Unique. That is correct. Your word is bismerch. Allegations of kickbacks will surely bismerch the senator's reputation. Bismerch. Be smurch. B E S M I R C H.
034That is correct. >> Excellent. >> Your word is cartilage. The athlete needed an operation to repair of a torn cartilage in his knee. Cartilage. >> Can you repeat the word, please? >> Cartilage. The athlete needed an operation to repair the torn cartilage in his knee. Cartilage. cartilage. C A R D I L A G E. Cartilage. I'm sorry, that is incorrect. Your word is cartilage. The athlete needed an operation to repair the torn cartilage in his knee. Cartilage. Cartilage. C A R T I L A G E. Cartilage. >> That is correct. >> Stay standing. One more. >> Do we have the one more word or >> Oh, no. She spelled her first word in that round. We have a winner. >> Congratulations. >> And we have a second place winner. We have two winners.
035So, do we want all three up on the stage now? All right, William. So every year our first and second place winners move on to the county spelling bee. So a round of applause for them. >> William is our alternate so he does need to be ready to go should the call arise. All right. So a round for William. Oh my god. an Aurora. >> All right. Can I have um everybody who participated just please stand? I want to thank each and every one of you today. You did an amazing job and your families are proud and we're proud and your teachers are proud. So give yourselves a round of applause. It's nerve-wracking up here. I was messing up and I was nervous. So certificates for all of you will be mailed out and so
036you'll be receiving those for for participating today and making it to the district level in the first place because you already won a competition before that. So congratulations and thank you very much. Thank you everybody for attending. As a reminder, the Fresno County spelloff will be on February 26th and information will be sent to your schools so that they can get that out to you and your families. Um an event like this does not happen without great teamwork. So, thank you to students and coaches and parents and every staff member who gave their time and assistance today to make this event a success. Thank you very much, guys. And thank you for bearing with me your first time spellmaster. >> Wait, no. Go ahead. I want to be in with the winners.