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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Hilltop Elementary School fourth-grade student Travis Mills (center) was crowned champion of the school’s annual Fourth-Grade Spelling Bee, with Angelea Latone (left) named second place winner and with Nick Bernardino (right) named third place winner.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Twelve Hilltop Elementary School fourth-grade students put their spelling skills to the test as they participated in the school’s annual Fourth-Grade Spelling Bee on June 5.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.On June 5, a fourth-grade student at Hilltop Elementary School took her turn at the microphone during the school’s annual Fourth-Grade Spelling Bee, as the other contestants looked on.
By ABBY SLANKER
Twelve Hilltop Elementary School fourth-grade students put their spelling skills to the test as they participated in the school’s annual Spelling Bee on June 5. Three students from each of the four fourth-grade classrooms qualified for the grade-wide spelling bee by winning one of three classroom spelling bees.
Hilltop Elementary School Principal Joe Maroni was the announcer. Third- and fellow fourth-grade students, friends and family were also in attendance to support the spellers.
Maroni welcomed everyone in attendance and explained the Spelling Bee rules.
“Welcome parents, grandparents and fellow Hilltoppers to our Fourth-Grade Spelling Bee. We are glad you’re here for this special event,” Maroni said.
Maroni started the Spelling Bee, during which the students competed for several rounds, with the words getting more difficult as the students moved through the rounds, until it came down to the final two spellers, Angelea Latone and Travis Mills, at the end of the 16th round.
For the last two spellers, the rules changed. Maroni would say the word and use the word in a sentence. The contestant must then spell the word correctly to move on. If the word was misspelled, the other contestant must spell that word correctly and then spell a new word correctly to win the Spelling Bee
After some stiff competition, Mills was crowned champion of the 2016-17 Hilltop Elementary School Fourth-Grade Spelling Bee.
“Congratulations to our champion, Travis. And congratulations to all our spelling bee contestants,” Maroni said.
Latone was named second place winner, with Nick Berardino named third place winner. Mills, Latone and Berardino each received a dictionary and a Barnes and Noble gift card, courtesy of Hilltop PTO. In addition to his prizes, Mills also received a gold crown as he was named champion.