Public schools to hold first district wide spelling bee | Paterson Times Paterson Times

Public schools to hold first district wide spelling bee

By Jayed Rahman
Published: March 18, 2014

edward-w-kilpatrick-school

23 of the city’s public schools, covering grades one and two, will hold a district wide spelling bee on May 30th, 2014.

Each school will have its own miniature spelling bee to send its best spellers to the district wide competition.

“I think this will be an wonderful opportunity for our young kids,” said Errol Kerr, school board member. Kerr said as a child attending school he was involved in spelling bees, and enjoyed partaking in the contests.

Schools 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 21, 24, 26, 27, 29, Dale Avenue, Roberto Clemente, Norman S. Weir, and the Edward W. Kilpatrick Elementary School will compete against each other. Each school will organize its own spelling contest in every first and second grade classrooms.

Each class winner will face off in a school wide contest; the winner of the school wide contest for each grade will be entered into the district wide spelling bee set to take place in School 24.

“We need these little exposures here and there to bring our kids in line with learning,” Kerr said. Other board members concurred with Kerr’s sentiments.

“If there’s something we can do to help our children, any kind of programs we can establish and have the means to do it, just do it,” said Corey Teague, school board member.

The spelling bee is part of a new initiative the district is pushing to improve phonics instruction for grade school children.

Prizes for first, second, and third place winners will be provided by Paula Alford, owner of Nusplash.com; activity bags and snacks will be handed out to all competing children courtesy of Luis Luna, a local medical doctor.

The competition which will be held in School 24 on Friday, May 30th, 2014, will cost the district virtually nothing.

“I don’t know who was so farsighted in recommending this spelling bee to us,” wondered Kerr. “These little things let them feel part of something which is bigger than themselves.”


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