Catholic Schools Fare Well In GISA Bee

Eight local Catholic school students advanced to the third round of the Georgia Independent School Association spelling bee in February. Shown are (back row, l-r) Todd Jones of Holy Spirit Preparatory School, Atlanta, Connor Lewanovicz from Notre Dame Academy, Duluth, Kiela Pagsisihan from Our Lady of Victory School, Tyrone, Taylor Halbig from St. John Neumann Regional School, Lilburn, J.P. Smith from Holy Spirit Preparatory School, and (front row, l-r) Nicholas Sapp from St. John the Evangelist School, Hapeville, Julia Denniss of St. Jude the Apostle School, Atlanta, and Eric Eichelberger from Marist School, Atlanta.

ATLANTA—Several students from schools located in the Archdiocese of Atlanta participated in the Georgia Independent School Association Spelling Bee in February.

The first round of competition was held Feb. 7 at various locations around Georgia. Round one was a written competition devised of 110 words in which students were required to write in ink without erasing or adding any letters. Anything that was illegible was considered an error. The archdiocese was well represented at the end of round one with many students advancing on to the second round.

For the second consecutive year Holy Spirit Preparatory eighth-grader Todd Jones has won the Georgia Independent School Association (GISA) spelling bee. Jones and first runner-up Erin Barnett of Mount Paran Christian School, Kennesaw, will represent GISA in the 2008 Georgia Association of Educators/Atlanta Daily World State Spelling Bee Competition on March 21 in Atlanta. Jones was a finalist in the 2007 state spelling bee. (Photo by Michael Alexander)

Rounds two and three, also written competitions, of the GISA Bee competition were held on Feb. 21 at Tattnall Square Academy in Macon. The 40 contestants from each of the round one sites competed, and the top 20 competitors moved on to round three. Again, Catholic schools were well represented at the end of the second round with eight students out of 20 advancing to the third round.

Holy Spirit Preparatory’s Todd Jones went on to win first place, with Eric Eichelberger finishing as third runner-up.