Big Buzz at San Lorenzo School District's First Spelling Bee

S-H-Y-S-T-E-R.

It was the winning word that 11-year-old James Booker from Grant Elementary School spelled correctly on Wednesday evening, making him San Lorenzo Unified School District's first official Spelling Bee champion.

He is one of the district's top 10 spellers who will go on to compete in the Alameda County Office of Education's Spelling Bee on March 17.

Nearly 40 forth and fifth-grade students from Del Rey, Grant, Bay and Lorenzo Manor Elementary Schools particiapted in the district's first-ever Spelling Bee, held at Bohannon Middle School on Feb. 15.

They all received medals and certificates of participation from Superintendent Dr. Denis Byas. The top three spellers — Booker, Edgar Chavez and Christian Gabriel — were also given trophies.

"I don't think anyone ever thought of doing this before," Byas said. "We'll keep it going now, though."

Booker said his strategy to winning was "study hard, stay up all night." All students who participated in the district Spelling Bee had an 800-word packet to go over in the weeks leading up to the competition.

In the end, homynyms and silent letters didn't faze this confident young man, who was also the top speller at his school Spelling Bee.

"We were getting some easy words," Booker said.

Upon hearing a bell ring once, indicating he had correctly spelt "shyster" during the spell-off against Chavez, Booker's principal Vanessa Bramlett emerged from behind the stage curtain overwhelmed with excitement.

"I'm just so proud of him," Bramlett said. "We're going to put this on the marquee, send it out on the newsletter."

The 10 students from the following schools will move on to compete against students from other school districts at the county-wide Spelling Bee in the Spring:

1. James Booker — Grant
2. Edgar Chavez — Bay
3. Christian Gabriel — Lorenzo Manor
4. Jumar Eugenio — Lorenzo Manor
5. Ashley Guan — Bay
6. Krisstina Caro — Lorenzo Manor
7. Daniel Grafil — Bay
8. Victoria Gonzalez — Grant
9. Alyssa Rentoria — Lorenzo Manor
10. Agatha Palo — Del Rey

The top two competitors will advance to the state finals.