Students shed case of nerves to win wordy competition

The John Muir School team overcame an early case of the butterflies to take first place in the third annual Word Series spelling bee and editing competition held at Marquette University on Saturday.

"I didn't expect to win," Christian Green, 14, a Muir eighth-grader, said after getting the championship trophy. "The competition was tough, but we hung in there and won."

Christian, along with teammates Beth L. Chitel, 13, a seventh-grader, and Jaci Jurgilanis, 14, an eighth-grader, will receive a four-day trip to Washington, D.C.

"I'm very excited and looking forward to the trip," Jaci said. "We studied very hard."

All Word Series participants received a T-shirt and movie passes. Prizes were donated by the Marcus Corp., Midwest Express Airlines and the Grand Avenue Mall.

The Word Series is a partnership of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, the Greater Milwaukee Education Trust, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Public Schools and the YMCA's One on One, a mentor program for at-risk children.

Each school was matched with a corporate sponsor that shared in the financial support of the series and backed the school in the competition. Muir was sponsored by Harley- Leg 1 ends here Davidson.

"It's important to have competition in academic areas as well as in sports," said MPS Superintendent Howard Fuller.

The field of MPS competitors, comprised of 29 three-member teams, was narrowed when word pronouncer Sister Joel Read, president of Alverno College, asked students to spell words like "inflammable," "patrolled" and "commission."

Students bit their lips, scribbled furiously on note pads and whispered among themselves before approaching the microphone to spell a word.

Those who spelled a word correctly sighed with relief after hearing a gentle "bing bing" from the judges. Those who struck out didn't hide their disappointment at the harsh "buzz" sound.

A Final Four Grand Avenue School, Cass Street School, Maryland Avenue School and Muir was selected for the championship round after several teams were slam-dunked on words like "espionage," "percolate" and "solvable."

Keith Spore, editorial page editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, said the Word Series will be held again next year.

"The series gives recognition to the excellence that's achieved in MPS," Spore said. "That's a message that needs to be sent as much as possible."

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