Marissa Birmingham on to state spelling bee

Posted 2/24/15

The St. Peter Tri-Parish School is full of young spelling stars. It began with classroom bees for grades 4 through 8. The top two from each classroom went on to the school spelling bee. Marissa …

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Marissa Birmingham on to state spelling bee

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The St. Peter Tri-Parish School is full of young spelling stars. It began with classroom bees for grades 4 through 8. The top two from each classroom went on to the school spelling bee. Marissa Birmingham, who went to the regional competition last year as well, won with Emily Patenaude as the runner-up.

Both were able to participate in this year’s regional competition at St. Mary’s in Cranston on Jan. 28. Marissa, a 7th grader, won that bee with the word “langosta” and now continues on to the statewide competition on March 7.

She said, “I was really surprised I won because I had never made it that far before, but I was really happy.”

Principal Joan Sickinger said the school has never had a student in the statewide competition either, and all of St. Peter School is proud of Marissa.

To prepare for the statewide competition Marissa was given a list of words. Sickinger said although those words are not guaranteed to be used on the day of the spelling bee, the list provides “hints”

She said, “It is really helpful for students to know the origin or Latin roots of the words. Students can find similarities or patterns in like words and be able to figure out the spelling.”

Marissa has been practicing. She has had friends and family quiz her on the words and she feels confident going into the statewide competition.

She said, “My family has really been a big help for me. They quiz me and when I get nervous before the competitions they help calm me down.”

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