Twin Creeks Middle School seventh-grader Gabriella Sucacin and her brother, Hirsch Elementary fifth-grader Emanuel Sucacin proudly display their trophies after taking top honors at the Spring ISD District Spelling Bee.

HOUSTON – Feb. 9, 2018 – Two siblings emerged from more than two dozen students to take top honors at the 2018 Spring ISD District Spelling Bee. Gabriella Sucacin from Twin Creeks Middle School correctly spelled “feldspar” to become champion, and her younger brother Emanuel Sucacin from Hirsch Elementary won the alternate spot.

Gabriella Sucacin smiled when she heard her final word to spell. “I knew every word right away,” she said. She had competed twice in the spelling bee in prior years, but said she thought the third time would be the charm. Her father, Michael Sucacin said that she had worked hard to prepare and was confident going into the competition. “We drill over and over with words, so it’s nice to see that it finished out the way it did,” said Sucacin.

Gwen Wright, who retired from Spring ISD but returned to reprise her role as announcer, said that the event is exciting but can be stressful. “You want everybody to win. The hardest part is saying ‘Incorrect,” said Wright.

Wright delivered words such as cauliflower, bungalow and stethoscope to the student competitors and she remarked after the first few rounds that she was quite impressed by the camaraderie of the students.

“They were giving each other compliments and saying ‘good job’ and ‘alright’ when somebody came back to their seat after spelling a word correctly. It was delightful to see that kind of support for each other,” she said.

Jessica Jackson, Spring ISD director of elementary English language arts, said the students on stage were made up of the champions or alternates from the individual school spelling bees that had already been completed at the middle or elementary campuses.

 “The next step is that the Sucacins will go to our regional spelling bee. They will also get an opportunity to come to our school board meeting and be introduced as our district spelling bee winners,” said Jackson.

Gabriella Sucacin, seventh grade, posed with her brother Emanuel, a fifth-grader, as her family took photos on the stage. When asked what she thought of the large trophy that she had just been awarded, she said “I think it’s totally excessive, and totally awesome!”

Champions from area district spelling bees will compete in the Houston Public Media Bee on April 7. The top two spellers from that competition will then move on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C.

The following students competed at the 2018 Spring ISD District Spelling Bee: William Suar, Major Elementary; Ethan Munro, Smith Elementary; Colin King, Ponderosa Elementary; Dennis Simpson, Bailey Middle School; Rayn Drury, Dueitt Middle School; Jada Patterson, Anderson Elementary; Gabriella Sucacin, Twin Creeks Middle School; Abigail Asana, Roberson Middle School; Jose Saldana, Cooper Elementary; Braylon Campbell, Northgate Crossing Elementary; Rian Torres, Reynolds Elementary; Elijah Pittman, Jenkins Elementary; Israel Rivera, Meyer Elementary; Michael Hoffman, Burchett Elementary; Christian Marshall, Heritage Elementary; Jayden Anderson, Eickenroht Elementary; Aleijah Williams, Marshall Elementary; Jose Benitez, Claughton Middle School; Tarrell Patterson Jr, McNabb Elementary; Addison Smith-Foy, Hoyland Elementary; David Rodriguez, Beneke Elementary; Mikayla Vasquez, Booker Elementary; Alexandra Gomez, Link Elementary; Jimmy Diaz, Lewis Elementary; Timia Cooper, Thompson Elementary; Kutara Harris, Salyers Elementary, Adeloa Olakanmi, Clark Intermediate and Emanuel Sucacin, Hirsch Elementary.