February 13, 2009
St. Ben’s eighth grader wins county spelling bee
Jose del Valle-Coello is joined by his principal Benedictine Sister Karlene Sensmeier. The eighth grader at St. Benedict Cathedral School in Evansville is the winner of the Vanderburgh County spelling bee. (Message photo by Mary Ann Hughes) Click for a larger version.
By MARY ANN HUGHES (Message staff writer)
In January, Jose del Valle-Coello received a small booklet with over 1,000 words which would be used during county spelling bees. He’s an eighth grader at St. Benedict Cathedral School in Evansville, and the winner of his school’s spelling bee.
He studied the booklet very diligently, and his hard work paid off last Saturday when he won the Vanderburgh County spelling bee.
The bee lasted 13 rounds with 130 words. During the competition, “every word I knew how to spell,” he said, “and I knew if someone was going to get out or not.”
He said he was “really happy” to win the county bee, adding, “It’s hard to believe.” Zach Conroy, a student at Good Shepherd School was the first runner-up, and Emily Sellers from Westside Catholic School was the second runner-up. (Related story: And the winners are . . . )
Jose now advances to the Tri-State Spelling Bee which will be held on March 7. English is his second language. His parents who are from Argentina and the rest of his family speak Spanish at home. Jose has also been teaching himself Russian, and he studies piano. “I’m pretty advanced. I’ve been studying it since kindergarten.”