Spelling it out

Mountain Area Spelling Bee. is year Cullen Dick, a Wilmot fth grader, won the bee by spelling “gargantuan” and “frequently” correctly. Taking second place was Owen Whitman, an EMS eighth grader. e students at the Evergreen bee won their school bees, and the Mountain Area Spelling Bee was the next stop on the road to the Colorado bee on March 11. at winner will go to the national Scripps Spelling Bee in May in Maryland. e last time a Colorado student won the national bee was in 2002. Despite electronic spelling help that most people use, learning to spell is still important, according to e Bergens’ Kirstin Pulio , digital teacher librarian who organized this year’s bee.

“Spelling bees are still important because they allow for students to learn in a fun way while promoting reading, writing, vocabulary and public-speaking skills,” Pulio said. “It helps students set personal goals and work hard to achieve them.”

Among words students spelled this year were “moxie,” “masa,” “tiara,” “pneumonia,” “frequently” and “feisty.” e bee was over in six rounds.

Cullen said his secret to spelling success was reading a lot, so he no- tices how words are spelled.

“I’ve been reading my entire life,” he said. “I love to read.”

Dad Adam Dick was happy for his son, adding that he was even happier that Cullen was an avid reader. Adam enjoys watching Cullen in spelling bees since Adam never participated in one himself.

Owen said he loves words and plans to write books one day.

Mom Stephanie Whitman called Owen a wordsmith.

“I am a good speller, but some of the words he spelled today were beyond my capability,” she said.

MADISON & CO. PROPERTIES, EVERGREEN

JACKIE GRUBB

Broker

Associate, REALTOR®

Madison & Co. Properties (720) 663-1093

JquelinGrubb@Gmail.com

Madison & Co. Properties is delighted to welcome Jackie Grubb to our o ce in Bergen Park. Jackie was raised in Baltimore along with six sisters. She has a BA in Education and a Masters as a Reading Specialist–who better to guide clients through the complexities of buying a home?

She loves the outdoors and met her husband Ben on a sledding hill when he was using a hard-sided suitcase as a sled. Since then, they’ve had two wonderful kids and his job has taken them all over the U.S. so buying, remodeling, staging and selling homes is second nature to her. ey spent a year in Denver some time ago and, when the opportunity to move back to our area came up, they opted to go big and live in the foothills.

Jackie loves all aspects of real estate, but prides herself on educating her clients on everything they should know before buying or selling because she’s done it so many times herself. Reach Jackie at (720) 6631093 or JquelinGrubb@Gmail.com.