KATY MAGAZINE NEWS
February 18, 2022
By Natalie Cook Clark
A Beckendorff Junior High seventh grader will represent Katy ISD in the Houston Public Media Spelling Bee. Student spellers from across the Houston-area will compete for the chance advance to the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Maryland.
Pictured left to right: Eric Dong and Abdelrahman Sayed. Photos courtesy: KISD
2021-2022 Spelling Bee District Champion
Seventh grader Eric Dong, from Beckendorff Junior High is the 2021-2022 Katy ISD spelling bee winner and will represent the District in the Houston Public Media (HPM) Spelling Bee. Abdelrahman Sayed, an eighth grader from Katy Junior High will serve as the backup contestant.
Dong and Abdelrahman proved V-I-C-T-O-R-I-O-U-S against 57 top spellers across Katy ISD this Monday during the District’s spelling bee. The event consisted of an online exam instead of an oral dictation of words due to COVID-19 safety precautions.
More than Spelling Word
“Spelling bee competitions are more than just spelling words,” says Karen Muller, Director of Katy ISD Elementary Curriculum & Instruction. “Participants spend countless hours learning definitions, pronunciations and roots of thousands of words.”
Dong will compete against top spellers from around 26 Houston-area districts via the HPM Spelling Bee that will be held via Zoom. About 15 spellers will advance from Round One, that will consist of 25 spelling questions and 25 vocabulary questions. Only 2 spellers will advance from the HPM Spelling Bee to the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee is scheduled to take place between May 29 and June 3 in National Harbor, Maryland.
“We are proud to have two Katy ISD learners earn such a respected recognition,” says Muller.