By Julia Caulfield

The Palm Theatre is bustling with students, teachers, and parents. Spanish and English floats through the air.

Everyone is gathered for one specific reason. It’s the Intermediate School Spanish Spelling Bee.

The Spanish Spelling Bee functions the same way as the English Spelling Bee – which took place several weeks before. Students come up to a microphone, hear the word to spell, say the word, spell the word, and say the word. They can also ask for things like using the word in a sentence, or asking for a definition.

This year, teachers Vicente Artes Usero and Ursula Cristol read the words out. Artes Usero and Cristol each read all the words. Artes Usero notes he’s from Spain, Cristol is from Peru, so while they speak the same language, it’s a different pronunciation.

And with that, the Bee begins. Twelve students sit in a line on the stage waiting to spell.

The first word is “vaso” or “glass”.

In the first round, one student is eliminated, 3 more in the second round, 1 in the 3rd, 4 in the 4th. Finally, 5th grader Keaton Koenig, and 7th grader Emma Dominguez de la Torre remain.

Koenig and Dominguez de la Torre volley back and forth for rounds, each spelling their words correctly, both missing.

Finnally Dominguez de la Torre spells “frigorífico” or “fridge” correctly before getting to the championship word, “constelación” or “constellation”.

The stars lined up for Emma Dominguez de la Torre, 2023 Spanish Spelling Bee champion.