02/06/08
Traphagen School kicks off 2008 Mt. Vernon Citywide
Spelling Bee
Traphagen Elementary School students, grades 3, 4,
5 and 6, gathered in the school's auditorium on
Wednesday,
February 6, to hear the school's principal, Joseph
Jordano, speak about the upcoming citywide spelling bee.
Last year, in the first ever citywide spelling bee
organized and conducted under the rules of the Scripps
National Spelling Bee, one Traphagen student came close
to winning the spelling bee crown won by Keeshini
Nandlall, an eight-grader at A. B. Davis Middle School.
Nandlall, the winner of the Mount Vernon Spelling Bee,
in the fourth through eighth grade category, advanced
and participated in the Scripps National Spelling Bee,
which was held in
Washington,
DC on May 30 and May 31.
Mount Vernon was the only municipality in Westchester
County registered with the national bee in 2007. The
Mount Vernon Inquirer, published by Joseph Parisi, was
the sponsor for the spelling bee.
Principal Jordano commenced by asking the large
gathering of students, "Who would like to go to
Washington, D.C. to compete in the Scripps National
Spelling Bee?" Every student in the auditorium jumped up
and yelled, "Me!" "We came very close last year and this
year we want one of students to go to Washington, D.C.,"
said Principal Jordano.
Guest speakers in attendance for the pre-spelling bee pep
rally included Mayor Clinton I. Young, Dr. W. L. Sawyer,
Superintendent of Schools and Tahira Dupree Chase,
English Language Arts
Administrator.
When introduced by Principal Jordano, the new Mayor of
Mount Vernon, Clinton Young, was well received by the
students and staff. "This is my former school and I
actually attended high school in Mount Vernon with your
principal, Mr. Jordano. So, I am very excited about this
spelling bee and know one of you will represent Mount
Vernon at the
Scripps
National Spelling Bee in Washing, D. C.," said Mayor
Young.
Another guest speaker to get a thunderous round of
applause was the superintendent, Dr. Sawyer. "I am here
today to tell you how proud of you I am. I am certain
that you are going to achieve your goal of going to
Washington, D.C. We intend to prepare you to be
the best that you can be," said Dr. Sawyer.
The students did not have trouble identifying the
Traphagen Clown, Assistant Principal, Barbara Schrager,
who truly inspired them with her motivating speech about
the forthcoming spelling bee.
After hearing from Chase, the students left the
auditorium excitedly talking about the spelling bee that
will ultimately allow one of them to travel on a fantasy
trip to Washington, D.C.
The Scripps Bee is the Nation’s largest and
longest-running
educational
promotion, administered on a not-for-profit basis by The
E.W. Scripps Company. Last year, 243 sponsors from the
United States, Europe, Guam, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, the
U.S.
Virgin
Islands,
The Bahamas, and American Samoa sent send their national
finalist to Washington, DC to compete in the 2007
Scripps National Spelling Bee.
We have experienced technical problems that prevent us
from publishing additional photos on this coverage.
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