Pictured (left to right) are Region 10 Spanish Spelling Bee winners: Irene Martinez, DeSoto ISD (3rd Place), Stella Shahbabian (1st place), Coppell ISD, Abraham Herrera( 2nd Place), Red Oak ISD
Students across Dallas/Fort Worth participated in a language and cultural exposure opportunity during the Region 10 Spanish Spelling Bee held on March 28, 2023.
“The Spanish Spelling bees are an opportunity for our students to build confidence, practice public speaking and communication, and think and perform under pressure,” said Frank Moates Elementary Bilingual Teacher Ms. Catherine Chavez Fields.
DeSoto ISD’s Emergent Bilingual (EB) students in grades 3-8 competed against other EB students throughout Districts in Region 10. Winners progress to compete at the State level. Six DeSoto ISD students were identified as 1st place or runner-ups: 4 students from Frank Moates and 2 from West and McCowan middle schools respectively were the finalist and runner-ups.
“We are always so proud of our students’ accomplishments,” said DeSoto ISD Superintendent of Schools Dr. Usamah Rodgers. “For our students to compete in the Region 10 Spanish Spelling Bee with peers from across the metroplex and to place among scholars from other high-performing schools speaks to their talent and potential.”
Students representing DeSoto ISD in Region 10’s event, qualified by competing at the district’s February 9 local Spanish Spelling Bees for Moates Elementary. This included more than 20 middle school competitors on February 14. A pool of six participants competed from Curtistene S. McCowan Middle School and DeSoto West Middle School. Both groups competed in two rounds to advance to the Region 10 competition.
DeSoto ISD’s Bilingual/ESL and LOTE Director Dr. Helena Castanon Vargas and Ana Coca Bilingual ESL Instructional Coach along with a host of district bilingual educators led the spelling bee process. Judges were composed of classroom teachers for the precursory spelling and written competition. From there, one finalist and one runner-up participated in the March 2023 Region 10 Spanish Spelling Bee.
DeSoto ISD walked away with a third-place finish in the 4th - 5th-grade category in a competition pool that featured schools across the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.
Congratulations to Frank Moates Elementary School fifth grader Irene Martinez on this achievement of securing a third-place finish among 25 participants in the Region 10 Spanish Spelling Bee.
The following students participated in the recent Spanish Spelling Bee:
DeSoto ISD First Place winners are: Brianna Jaurez, 3rd Grade, Frank D. Moates Elementary School, Irene Martinez, 5th Grade, Frank D. Moates Elementary School, and Melissa Torres Verduy, DeSoto West Middle School.
DeSoto ISD Runner-Ups are: Camila Botello, Frank D. Moates Elementary School, Stacey Alvarez, Frank D. Moates Elementary School, and Keyla Pinon Cortes, Curtistene S. McCowan Middle School.