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Students spell their way to regional finals

Three elementary school students of Clearview School Division represented their communities well at the Canwest Canspell central and northern Alberta regional finals in Edmonton on Feb. 20.
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Spelling wizards – Clearview School Division students (from left) Christianne Alvarez-Velante of Coronation School

Three elementary school students of Clearview School Division represented their communities well at the Canwest Canspell central and northern Alberta regional finals in Edmonton on Feb. 20.

Tayla Van Oers (Grade 6) of Gus Wetter School in Castor, Alyssa Henderson (Grade 4 of Stettler Elementary School) and Christianne Alvarez-Velante of Coronation School travelled to the Horowitz Theatre located at the University of Alberta campus in Edmonton to participate in one of 21 Canwest Canspell regional finals held across Canada.

“All three girls did an excellent job representing our school division during the regional final,” said Daram Van Oers, principal of Gus Wetter School and father of one of the girls.

“Many months of studying and practicing spelling words paid off for these three girls as they first qualified to represent their school and then had to participate in a written spelling bee to qualify for the regional final.”

Among some of the words they were asked to spell were words such as ‘mathematics’, ‘peril’ , ‘sayonara’ and ‘saltimbocca’.

Unfortunately, by the fifth round, all three were eliminated, leaving 12 students competing for the chance to travel to Ottawa for the national finals March 24 to 29.

“Of the approximately 18,500 students in our region who competed for a chance to participate in this final, 68 students were successful, including our three fine students,” said Van Oers.

“We look forward to upcoming years as our three elementary aged students, Tayla, Alyssa and Christianne, will be eligible to compete every year until they reach Grade 9.”