Spelling Bee

A big take away I have learned since moving here has probably been I don't know English at all... And having two more languages rolling around in my brain at the same time doesn't help either. Spelling being the worst for me. One day, I was doing a lesson with my kiddos and I had to put the word "unfortunately" on the chalk board. I stood up there so confident and started spelling, "U"... "N"... "F"... and then my brain said "HAHA NOPE" and stopped working in English... I stood there with my piece of chalk in my hand and froze. Thank God for my counterpart. She started spelling it for me and now we think back on that memory often and giggle. I should know how spell better being that I'm an English teacher but no. So me helping my students with a Spelling Bee competition is just wild.

My counterpart talked to me one day and said that our local American Corner was holding a Spelling Bee competition and she signed up for it. Also, if you haven't heard of American Corner before, that's okay. I didn't know about them until I moved here. The American Corners here in North Macedonia are a partnership between the Public Affairs Section at U.S. Embassy Skopje and local host institutions such as libraries, cultural centers and universities. There are over 400 American Corners worldwide that provide welcoming environments where visitors can connect and learn about the United States through books and magazines, Internet access, and engaging in-person and virtual programs. If you want to learn more about American Corners, check them out on Facebook and Instagram.

We then had "try outs" at school one afternoon where the students had to spell 15 words that I chose. Again, coming from a girl who can't spell to save her life is just crazy. After the try outs, we took 30 of our best spelling students (5th-9th grade) to the local round of the competition. It was a Saturday morning at the American Corner in Skopje. After a stressful wait, 6 of our students made it to the next round. The following weekend, we went back to see who would qualify for the national competition. I think I was more stressed than the students were. I just kept telling them that I was proud of them no matter what. They worked so hard to get there. We had one 5th grader and one 9th grader make it to nationals! So we will be going back in April for the final round. The 9th grader is one of my homeroom students and we are just so fricken proud!

I will keep y'all updated about the final round once April rolls around. For now, enjoy some pictures from the last two rounds. :)