MISD’s Youngest District Spelling Bee Champ Reclaims Title

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It was a familiar feeling for 13-year-old Kailey Choi to be on stage holding the district spelling bee plaque.

The eighth-grader from T.A. Howard Middle School made her debut at the Mansfield ISD District Spelling Bee when she was in third grade and became MISD’s youngest champion.

In the following years, Choi qualified for the competition but fell short of the first place title. That is, until this year’s contest, which is the last year she will be able to participate in the event.

“It’s like a legacy,” she said. “I won first, and I won last.”

Choi competed with campus winners from MISD’s elementary, intermediate and middle schools to earn the district title. She won in the ninth round with the word “infrastructure.”

Choi's father and principal came to support her.

“When I heard the word, I freaked out; but then I calmed myself down and said it letter by letter,” Choi explained.

Organizers of the Feb. 9 event, sponsored by the Mansfield Sunshine Rotary Club, said they have been preparing for it since September. It takes work to coordinate each campus bee and the district competition, but they said the end result is satisfying.

“My favorite part of the spelling bee is seeing those kids on stage with their eager faces and all of their study skills and habits coming into fruition,” said Kristi Gonzales, MISD coordinator of elementary language arts.

Gonzales added that spelling bees help students with communication skills and self-confidence.

Choi will be going off to high school next year and will not be eligible to compete, but she gave her advice for those wanting to earn the next district title.

“What you have to do is strive for it, study and be calm.”

The spelling bee champ will now prepare for the Scripps Regional Spelling Bee on March 1 at Texas Christian University. When she appeared at the event five years ago, she lasted 14 rounds.

MISD Spelling Bee Campus Winners

School	Student
Alice Ponder Elementary	Dinh Luong
Anna May Daulton Elementary	Prince Olowookere
Annette Perry Elementary	Riley Myrow
Asa Low Intermediate	Samantha Malone
Brooks Wester Middle School	Emmanuel Allison
Carol Holt Elementary	Emily Trinh
Charlotte Anderson Elementary	Daniel Ogiozee
Cora Spencer Elementary	Kaleb Giggins
Cross Timbers Intermediate	Tiffany Lam (district runner-up)
D. P. Morris Elementary	Amina Allen
Danny Jones Middle School	Zoe Leddy
Della Icenhower Intermediate	Ayush Shah
Donna Shepard Intermediate	Jaxson Latimer
Elizabeth Smith Elementary	Caden Overby
Erma Nash Elementary	Joseph Oehlke
Glenn Harmon Elementary	Omar Akkad
Imogene Gideon Elementary	Adebola Adeshola
J. L. Boren Elementary	Mariam Dohadwala
James Coble Middle School	Yvaine Penaranda
Janet Brockett Elementary	Marli Field
Judy Miller Elementary	Zain Durrani
Kenneth Davis Elementary	Josiah Smith
Linda Jobe Middle School	Ruth Oyerokun
Louise Cabaniss Elementary	Lucy Duku
Martha Reid Elementary	Angel Brefro
Mary Jo Sheppard Elementary	Marcus Jones
Mary Lillard Intermediate	Collin Overby
Mary Orr Intermediate	Noah Gakuba
Nancy Neal Elementary	Kamryn Ross
Roberta Tipps Elementary	Ryu Cheng
Rogene Worley Middle School	Tojumi Olayiwole
T. A. Howard Middle School	Kailey Choi  (district winner)
Tarver-Rendon Elementary	Joshua Oyerokun
Thelma Jones Elementary	Hailey Alajandre
Willie Brown Elementary	Tej Marimuthu

 

Two-Time Runner-Up Wins 2017 MISD District Spelling Bee

And then there were two.

Out of the original batch of 35 spelling bee contestants who made it to the district competition by being the winners at their campus bee, only two girls were left in round 10.

Ruth Oyerokun from Linda Jobe Middle School and Tojumi Olayiwole from Mary Orr Intermediate School battled it out for almost an hour on Feb. 10 to see who would be named the Mansfield ISD spelling champion.

Androcentric. Lithe. Folksiness. Polymer. Each word was spelled effortlessly—until the word to spell was hogan.

Olayiwole misspelled it, which gave Oyerokun the opportunity to correctly spell the next two words. T-r-a-w-l became her trophy-winning letters.

“I’m very happy,” said the seventh-grader. “This is my fourth spelling bee. I was runner-up in fourth and fifth grade.”

Olayiwole (left) and Oyerokun (right) were competitors and friends.

Winning was a little bitter-sweet for Oyerokun because the runner-up is her friend, but she said it felt satisfying to win after years of qualifying and preparing for the district bee.

“It feels good to finally not be behind someone,” she said. “I’ve been studying for the past two months for 30 minutes a day. My family has been very supportive and told me to learn from my past mistakes.”

The annual MISD Spelling Bee fosters public speaking skills, enhances vocabulary skills and builds self-confidence through friendly competition. It is just one of the ways the district and community come together to support literacy.

“One of the tenants of Rotary International is literacy,” said Randall Canedy from the Mansfield Sunrise Rotary Club, which sponsors the event. “[The spelling bee] isn’t the only thing we do, but it’s something we really enjoy and one of our favorite events of the year.”

Oyerokun already has her eyes set on her next prize. She’ll go on to compete at the Scripps Regional Spelling Bee on March 2 at Texas Christian University.

List of Contestants/Campus Winners

School	Student
Alice Ponder Elementary	William Curlin
Anna May Daulton Elementary	Morgan Taggart
Annette Perry Elementary	Emma Shatto
Asa Low Intermediate	Dante Perales
Brooks Wester Middle School	Cris Vint
Carol Holt Elementary	Jayden Maple
Charlotte Anderson Elementary	Drew Dazey
Cora Spencer Elementary	Jaden Marshall
Cross Timbers Intermediate	Tiffany Lam
D. P. Morris Elementary	Emma Griffith
Danny Jones Middle School	Elizabeth Mingle
Della Icenhower Intermediate	Mariam Dohadwala
Donna Shepard Intermediate	James Edwardsen
Elizabeth Smith Elementary	Kemi Morohunfola
Erma Nash Elementary	Joseph Oehlke
Glenn Harmon Elementary	Shayla Simms
Imogene Gideon Elementary	Trevin Lawson
J. L. Boren Elementary	Julia Rio
James Coble Middle School	Himadri Nath
Janet Brockett Elementary	Aaron Pradith
Judy Miller Elementary	Kojo Boadu
Kenneth Davis Elementary	Luke Dickey
Linda Jobe Middle School	Ruth Oyerokun (winner)
Louise Cabaniss Elementary	Ayush Shah
Martha Reid Elementary	Angel Brefo
Mary Jo Sheppard Elementary	Marcus Jones
Mary Lillard Intermediate	Nicolas Shea
Mary Orr Intermediate	Tojumi Olayiwole (runner-up)
Nancy Neal Elementary	Cadence Webb
Roberta Tipps Elementary	Ayaan Monga
Rogene Worley Middle School	Kennedy Johnson
T. A. Howard Middle School	Kashif Ghani
Tarver-Rendon Elementary	Joshua Oyerokun
Thelma Jones Elementary	Caitlyn Nguyen
Willie Brown Elementary	Cristian Rodriguez