District spelling bee champ is a young man of his words
Last week, La Cañada Elementary School sixth-grader Gabriel Gottheim proved he was a man of his word — several words, actually — when he pulled off a win at La Cañada Unified’s annual districtwide spelling bee.
Gottheim beat 15 other competitors at the Jan. 27 event, each of them fourth- through sixth-graders who’d advanced from earlier school-site spelling bees.
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The first-place winner will represent La Cañada Unified in the 11th Annual Los Angeles County Spelling Bee, which takes place March 30. Second-place winner, Palm Crest Elementary School fourth-grader Neal Frankenberg, will serve as the district’s backup in the countywide competition.
This year’s district competition was overseen by La Cañada Elementary Principal Emily Blaney. La Cañada High School assistant principal James Cartnal assisted Blaney as the event’s “Spell Master,” aiding contestants who sought further information on a particular word.
Also on the judging panel were LCHS 7/8 Principal Dr. Jarrett Gold, who dutifully recorded student responses letter for letter, and LCUSD’s Assistant Supt. of Human Resources, Jeff Davis, who acted as the bee’s official timekeeper.
Speaking in an interview the day after the event, Blaney said the initial rounds were fast and furious as students were eliminated from 16 spellers to just two. Then, for awhile the contest was neck and neck as Gottheim and Frankenberg battled it out for the first-place trophy.
“Those two last boys went back and forth,” Blaney added. “They were spelling doozies all night.”
The deciding word was “testimonial,” which caused Frankenberg some consternation. After spelling that word correctly, Gottheim had to earn his win by spelling the word “acrylic,” which he did, to the delight of the 50 or so parents and educators in attendance.
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
