2024 Washington Informer Citywide Spelling Bee Supplement

42nd Annual Spelling Bee

42nd Annual Spelling Bee Coordinated by the District of Columbia Public Schools Presents

BEE HISTORY OF THE CITY-WIDE

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER SPELLING

In 1980, Dr. Mary E. White, former supervising director, D.C. Public Schools Division of Instructional Services, Department of English, believed it was time for D.C. students to participate in Scripps National Spelling Bee. The national competition was held annually in the Nation’s Capital, but without a sponsor, D.C. students could not participate. Dr. White appealed to Washington Informer Publisher Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, Sr., to assist with finding a sponsor. He decided to personally take on the challenge and The Washington Informer became the official sponsor of the D.C. Citywide Spelling Bee in 1981.

The first citywide spelling bee was held at Backus Junior High School in Northeast in March 1982. John Krattenmaker, a sixth-grade student at Mann Elementary School in Northwest, was the winner. Dr. Rolark became disgruntled after learning Scripps denied John’s participation in the National Spelling Bee due to a rule that only daily newspapers qualified for sponsorship. The Washington Informer was published weekly.

Dr. Rolark, a board member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the trade association for nearly 200 Black-owned newspapers in the U.S., concluded that the national spelling bee’s policy was discriminatory. There were no Black-owned daily newspapers in the U.S. The policy essentially blocked Black-owned publications from sponsorship even in markets where no other publication would sponsor a local spelling bee.

Dr. Rolark engaged legal counsel from his wife, Attorney Wilhelmina J. Rolark, who informed Scripps of their plans to file an injunction in the D.C. Superior Court prohibiting the national competition to be held in the District of Columbia until a ruling was given on the merits of their case. Scripps quickly reversed its policy, and the following year, the national spelling bee winner was sponsored by the Loudon County Times, a weekly newspaper based in Loudon County, Virginia. The Times was the only other weekly newspaper to participate along with The Washington Informer in the national spelling bee that year.

Nearly 4,000 students enrolled in more than 200 D.C. schools, including private, parochial, independent, charter, and home-schools, participate in The Washington Informer Citywide Spelling Bee each year. For 36 years, the Citywide Spelling Bee was held live and recorded at the NBC4 television studios, and later aired for general viewership throughout the Washington metropolitan area.

In 2020, the 38th Annual Spelling Bee was held in the studios of the Office of Cable Television, Film, Music, and Entertainment (OCTFME). In 2021, due to the pandemic, the 39th Annual Citywide Spelling Bee was held virtually with students still eager to participate despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year marks the 42d Annual Washington Informer Citywide Spelling Bee. School participation is high, students are eager, and sponsors have generous given their support. With its mission to improve literacy among D.C. youths, and adults, The Washington Informer Charities is proud of its history and the role it continues to play to enhance educational opportunities for all.

Donate to The Spelling Bee

D.C.

5 LaToya Foster, Director of the Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment (OCTFME) welcomes the studio audience to the 42nd Annual Washington Informer Spelling Bee. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)

PURPOSE

Scripps, a diversified multi-media company, established the National Spelling Bee to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabulary, learn concepts, and develop correct English that will help them all their lives. Spellers experience the satisfaction of learning language not only for the sake of correct spelling but also for the sake of cultural and intellectual literacy.

The Washington Informer’s participation in Scripps National Spelling Bee helps to further the goals of Scripps in the District of Columbia and to address the issue of illiteracy, particularly among African American youth. “If we want to improve the quality of life for all Americans,” said the late Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, publisher, “then we must begin by teaching our children to read, which they will not be able to achieve until they can learn to spell.”

5

Public Schools Spelling Bee Coordinator Jason Moore and Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes discuss the history and impact of the annual D.C. citywide spelling bee during the taping at the OCTFME studios in Northeast, D.C. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)

Washington Gas Supports the 42nd Annual Washington Informer Spelling Bee

TABLE

Trophies and Washington Informer gift bags filled with prizes from sponsors were awarded to each spelling bee participant. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)

2024 PRIZE LIST

FIRST PLACE WINNER:

• First Place Trophy – courtesy of Washington Informer Charities

• Chromebook – courtesy of Comcast

• $300 gift Card - courtesy of The Washington Informer and Washington Informer Charities

• Safeway Gift Card

• Hotel stay for the week of The Scripps National Spelling Bee at The Gaylord – courtesy of The Washington Informer and Washington

Informer Charities

• Washington Informer swag bag with assorted gifts from sponsors

MEET THE WINNERS!

3 Runner-up Nora Baker, a 6th grader from BASIS DC and first place winner Noah Rowe, an 8th grader from MacFarland Middle School proudly display their trophies.

(Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)

SECOND PLACE WINNER:

• Second Place Trophy – The Washington Informer and Washington Informer Charities

• $200 gift Card - courtesy of The Washington Informer and Washington Informer Charities

• Safeway Gift Card

• Washington Informer swag bag with assorted gifts from sponsors

THIRD PLACE WINNER:

• Finalist Trophy – courtesy of The Washington Informer and Washington Informer Charities

• Safeway Gift Card

• Washington Informer swag bag with assorted gifts from sponsors

SPELLING BEE WINNERS CREDIT PERSISTENCE, COLLABORATION, AND READING WITH THEIR VICTORIES

Noah Rowe, 8th Grader from MacFarland Middle School, Heads to Scripps National Spelling Bee

By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer

In mid-March, Noah Rowe weathered six rounds of spelling to defeat 29 other D.C. students and become the 42nd Washington Informer Spelling Bee champion. He will now represent the District at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Noah’s journey to first place, however, started long before the March 16 competition held at the D.C. Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment (OCTFME).

Four years ago, Noah suffered defeat at the local bee after rising through the ranks as a first-time spelling bee participant at Powell Elementary School in Northwest and later the cluster bee. Two years later, as a sixth grader, Noah met a similar fate when he made his second appearance in the citywide spelling bee.

Noah’s seventh grade year proved to be even tougher, as he didn’t even make it past the cluster bee. He told The Informer that those experiences inspired a strategy that kept him entirely focused on his instincts.

“My mistake the other times was that I overthought it. But this time, I always thought about my initial impression,” said Noah, an eighth grader at MacFarland Middle School in Northwest. His winning word was sophomoric, an adjective that means immature.

“I stuck to what I initially thought because my instincts are right,” Noah said.

THE COMPETITION: SPELLERS, JUDGES, CHALLENGES AND LESSONS

The young people who participated in the 42nd Annual Washington Informer Spelling Bee collectively defeated more than 2,000 of their peers in school-wide bees and cluster bees that took place at THEARC in Southeast in February.

Celicy Fernandez hosted the March 16 bee, sponsored by District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), OCTFME, Foundation of the Advancement of Music & Education

4 Noah Rowe won the 42nd Washington Informer citywide spelling bee, and will now represent the District at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)

(FAME), Pepco, Safeway Foundation, Silver Spring Signarama, Comcast and Washington Gas.

The day opened with greetings from LaToya Foster, director of OCTFME, and Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes.

Dr. Elizabeth Primas, an educational specialist and mem ber of the Washington Informer Charities board, reviewed the rules before the start of the bee.

Primas, spelling bee coordinator Jason B. Moore, and Mauwena De-Souza of D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) served as judges.

Each student, representing either a District public, public charter, private or parochial school, took to the podium and listened as pronouncer David Zahren gave them a spelling word. Before spelling a word, they could ask for the definition, pronunciation and language of origin.

Spellers could also challenge their elimination.

Ethan Schott, a fifth grader at Key Elementary School in Northwest who misspelled discomfiture, a word meaning a feeling of embarrassment, successfully did so during the third round.

Other words that caused difficulty for spellers included morose, an adjective meaning sullen and ill-tempered; legalese, a noun meaning technical language found in legal documents; heleoplankton, a type of plankton that lives in freshwater; occipital, an adjective meaning related to the back of the head; heterophony, the simultaneous performance of the same melody by different instruments or voices; and blastema, a heterogeneous cell mass.

The citywide bee wrapped up with Nora Baker, a sixth grader from BASIS DC in Northwest, clinching the second place spot.

Earlier in the competition, during the round Noah won first place, Nora was eliminated by pilosity, a word that means excessive hairiness.

After a panel of judges designated Noah as the first place winner, Nora, joined Keilani Shakow from Janney Elementary School in Northwest, Ethan, Mekedim Gossaye of Center City Public Charter School Brightwood Campus, and Margaret Torrey of Holy Trinity

5 The 2024 DC Spelling Bee contestants pose with judges and sponsors. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)

CONTINUED FROM PAGE S-6

School – to hash it out for second place.

Nora took second place after correctly spelling embolus, defined as a blood clot. If Noah is unable to compete in the national competition, Nora will take his place in representing the District.

The Informer’s Ron Burke later presented awards to the winners.

PREPPING FOR THE BEE, NEVER GIVING UP

As Keilani looked back on her citywide spelling bee experience, she thought about what she described as the suspense of waiting for a word and her attempts not to feel overwhelmed while on stage.

Though she admitted disappointment, Keilani still relished her victory.

One notable aspect of her overall experience, she told The Informer, centered on the bond she solidified with Diana Suardi, fifth grader at Janney Elementary School and fellow citywide spelling bee participant who was her study buddy.

“I want people to study a lot and do it with friends so it doesn’t seem boring,” Keilani said.

Like her fellow spelling bee winners, Keilani also touted her love of reading as a tool in her advancement through the spelling bee. She counts book series like Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson & the Olympians” and Shannon Messenger’s “Keeper of Lost Cities” among her favorites.

“When you read a lot of books, you recognize words when you hear them, which is helpful for the spelling bee,” Keilani said. “ If you’ve never seen a word in your life, it’s much harder to spell it.”

In the months and years before the March 16 competition, Nora experienced a couple of milestones as a competitive speller, including tying for third place at last year’s citywide bee. She told The Informer that she prepared for this year’s spelling bee by studying 100 words per night.

As she explained, she never gave up on her goals.

“I never realized that I was that good of a speller, but I ended up winning my class and school,” Nora said. “I got more into spelling and studied and then I made it here. You have to work hard, study and focus on the words.”

First-place winner Noah also credits a love for reading with his success. He told The Informer that, throughout the years, he became increasingly familiar with several of the multisyllabic words he would ultimately encounter while preparing for the spelling bee.

Noah will go on to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee at The Gaylord National Harbor during Bee Week, Sunday, May 26 to Friday, May 31. The preliminaries begin on Tuesday, May 28 and the finals will be held on March 31.

For the local bee, the eighth-grader said his study regimen included reading three to four pages of words per day, and emphasized consistency is key in order to be victorious.

“The biggest thing for me is that persistence will lead to success. You have to keep pushing for the same goal.”

WI @SamPKCollins

5

5 First and second

3 Leo Mosoti, an 8th grade student at St. Albans School sits with his parents at the 2024 DC Spelling Bee. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)

Stacy Burnette, Comcast Senior Director of Government & Regulatory Affairs, awards winner Noah Rowe with a new laptop. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)

place 2024 DC Spelling Bee winners Noah Rowe and Nora Baker with their dads. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)

MEET THE SPELLERS

Nora Baker BASIS DC 6th Grade

Diana Suardi Janney ES

Tessa Henriquez Horace Mann ES 5th Grade

Naomi Washington National Cathedral School 6th Grade

Leah Shuler Friendship PCS Armstrong Campus 8th Grade

Alejandra Sutherland Brent ES 5th Grade

Anisha Patel

Marie Reed Elementary School 5th Grade

Eden Rosser Garrison Elementary School 5th Grade

Alexander Zhuang Janney ES 4th Grade

Ethan Schott Key Elementary School 5th Grade

All Student Headshots: Ja’Mon Jackson/The Washington Informer

Michael Falade Friendship Ideal / 7th Grade

Keilani Shakow Janney Elementary School 5th Grade

Mars Perry BASIS DC 8th Grade

Leo Mosoti St. Albans School 8th Grade

Mekedim Gossaye Center City PCS Brightwood Campus 8th Grade

Jenesis Tate

Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School - East End Campus 3rd Grade

Liam Roberts Oyster Adams Bilingual 5th Grade

Noah Rowe MacFarland MS 8th Grade

Emilia Constantyn Oyster Adams Bilingual 7th Grade

Jacob Menkes St. Albans School 8th Grade

MEET THE SPELLERS

Michael Angel Mbouambou Nitcheu Hyde Addison Elementary School

Adelaide Steinberg Maury Elementary

Sonnia Klapper Hyde-Addison 4th Grade

Margaret Torrey Holy Trinity School 8th Grade

Elena Tamarin F. S. Key Elementary 5th Grade

Lena Kaufmann Holy Trinity Catholic School 7th Grade

Dexter Love Bancroft 3rd Grade

Lillie Cohen St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School 8th Grade

Gidget Horn JO Wilson 4th Grade

Malcolm McIntyre Alice Deal Middle School 8th Grade

MEET THE PRONOUNCER

Dave Zahren Does More than Simply Speak Words Out Loud

Mr. David Zahren is currently a television instructional specialist with the Prince George’s County Public Schools’ Department of Television Resources and Web Services. This is his 50th year with PGCPS.  Over the past 30+ years, Mr. Zahren has written, produced, and hosted four award-winning science programs that have aired on cable television: “Give Science A Hand,” a hands-on approach to science aimed at elementary school students; “Science Bowl,” an interscholastic science game show; “Under the Microscope,” a series of staff development programs for elementary teachers that also airs nationwide on PBS stations, and a new series, “Anatomy of a Lesson.”

He is also the Pronouncer for The Prince George’s County Spelling Bee presented by The Washington Informer and Washington Informer Charities. The Prince George’s Bee was held on March 1st and this was his 23rd year as the Prince George’s County Spelling Bee Pronouncer,

Mr. Zahren is a cum laude graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh and has a master’s degree in school administration and human relations from George Washington University. In 1985, after a teaching career that had spanned fourteen years, including three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nairobi, Kenya, Mr. Zahren was selected as Maryland’s Teacher in Space candidate. He was one of 100 teachers chosen from the 40,000 applicants nationwide to vie for a flight aboard the space shuttle Challenger.

Mr. Zahren has received several awards, including the CINE Golden Eagle, for his work as a science teacher, a television host and producer, and a space educator. He continues to produce and host public television programs with the Department of Television Resources and Web Services in Prince George’s County and served for 17 years as host of “It’s Academic,” a high school quiz program that aired on WJZ-TV, the CBS affiliate in Baltimore.   He retired in 2015 from Washington’s WJLA-ABC 7/News Channel 8 after working 25 years as a part-time weather forecaster.

MEET THE 2024 JUDGES

Mawuena De-Souza Manager: Secondary Assessments & Interventions DCPS

Dr. Elizabeth Primas Educator, Reading Specialist with Friendship Collegiate Academy

Jason B. Moore Manager: Elementary Assessments & Interventions

Photo: (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)

5 Dave Zahren

3 Washington Informer Director of Advertising Ron Burke, Stacy Burnette from Comcast, winner Noah Rowe, runner-up Nora Baker, Tamica Jones from Pepco, Tracye Funn from Washington Gas, and Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes pose for a photo after the competition. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)

CAPTURE THE MOMENT

On television and streaming

The Spelling Bee premiered

Tuesday, April 9 at 7 pm on DKN.

It was posted on the streaming network, DCE, on April 10.

In case it’s missed, it will replay on the following days and times on DKN:

Friday, April 12 at 6 pm

Air Date – Tuesday, April 9, 2024 on DCN

Saturday, April 13 at 10 am

(It will be posted on the streaming network, DCE, on April 10. Parents and students can download the app by going to dcenetwork.com)

Sunday, April 14 at 10 am please go to DCEnetwork.com and download the free app.

5 Jenesis Tate, a 3rd grade student at Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School is comforted by her dad at the 2024 DC Spelling Bee. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)

5 The audience waits to see who will win the 2024 DC Spelling Bee. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer))

Committed to a Brighter Future

At Pepco, we understand the importance of education and the role it plays in shaping a brighter tomorrow. We are committed to empowering our community’s future and supporting programs that encourage local students to develop their full potential.

By investing in the 42nd annual D.C. City-Wide Spelling Bee, we hope to inspire and empower the next generation of leaders and innovators.

Congratulations to this year’s participants!

Winner

Noah Rowe

MacFarland MS, 8th Grade (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)

On television and streaming, the Bee premiered on Tuesday, April 9th on the DKN channel on cable and It was posted on the streaming network, DCE, on April 10

A. On cable channels in the District, DKN can be found on Comcast, channel 99; RCN, channel 18 and Verizon, channel 12. It can also be found in HD on RCN, channel 1057 and Comcast channel, 1091.

B. For all those interested in watching the Bee, please go to DCEnetwork.com and download the free app... How

The Award Winning African American Newspaper Celebrating Our 59th Year of Service

5 We celebrate all of our finalists and everyone who helped make our 42nd Annual Washington Informer Spelling Bee a huge success. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)