Lincoln Junior High student advances in national spelling bee
By Cathryn Gran cgran@pioneerlocal.com January 30, 2012 2:14PM
Christian Montgomery, a third-grader at Edison School, spells his word during the District 69 spelling bee at Skokie Public Library on Jan. 26. | Curtis Lehmkuhl~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 3, 2012 8:09AM
Skokie resident Lena Grossman, who attends Lincoln Junior High School, is moving on after having a successful spell.
The student correctly spelled the word, “reciprocate,” earning her a spot in the next round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee competition to be held this month in Winnetka.
This year was the first year in recent memory that Skokie/Morton Grove School District 69 participated in the program, said Jessica Corrigan, a sixth-grade language-arts teacher who helped organize the district competition.
“We had 24 finalists, and close to 100 people in the audience cheering them on,” Corrigan said.
The spelling bee was open to students in grades 3-8.
“I studied, so I felt comfortable,” said Grossman. “I used study lists and I attended practice sessions. But I still felt a little nervous, especially toward the final rounds. Then I just started to focus.”
Sixth-grader Zoha Ullah, of Morton Grove, had some experience competing in spelling bees before transferring to District 69.
“I’ve done these before, but I was still nervous,” she said. “You spell a word and you’re relieved, but then you get nervous waiting for the next one.”
Tension took hold as the competition came down to Grossman and Vijay Shah, of Morton Grove, a seventh-grader.
“The two went back and forth for 20 minutes,” Corrigan said. “It was highly intense, and it was so exciting with even the audience getting involved.”
Shah acknowledged being nervous.
“But it was good in a sense. There are so many twists and turns in spelling. English is a mosaic of many languages. I studied every day, including learning the Greek and Latin roots of words.”
And though losing was “a bit of disappointment,” Shah said it was still nice to see friend Lena win.
Principal Paul Bleuher called the program “awesome.”
“It’s just incredible,” he said “The kids just have that desire.”
Corrigan said it was at Bleuher’s suggestion that the district participated in the spelling bee.
“He suggested we enter the competition,” Corrigan said. “The language-arts department at Lincoln jumped on the opportunity, and Edison (School) quickly followed.
“The team really came together. Everyone found a job to do that they were good at. This definitely will be a yearly thing. It was a huge success. And the best part was we were able to bring all our students together.”
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