Mrs. Benard, Max and Mr. Hanauer

Last Thursday evening, six students sat nervously in the front of a crowded room in anticipation of the Stella Schola school spelling bee.  Classroom winners and runners up Zein Charania (6th grade), Taylor Zann (6th grade), Franklin Shih (7th grade), Max Gardafee (7th grade), Alessandro Leporace (8th grade), and Lauren Lees (8th grade) spelled confidently as they vied for the title of school bee winner.

Serving as judges were Lake Washington School Board member Nancy Bernard and hydroplane racer Chip Hanauer.  Nancy Bernard is not only a school board member, but also a Public Health Advisor with the Washington State Department of Health and she manages the Indoor Air Quality and School Environmental Health and Safety Program. Mrs. Bernard was honored to be invited to participate as a judge.  Chip Hanauer is a local and national celebrity for winning his first Unlimited Hydroplane race in 1979, eleven prestigious Gold Cup races, and seven national titles at the Unlimited National and World Championship Hyrdoplane races.  His win total of 61 ranks second only to the legendary Bill Muncey.  Mr. Hanauer spends much of his free time helping children with behavioral disorders due to abuse.

After an intense hour of spelling, the winner of the spelling bee was determined as seventh grader Max Gardafee who correctly spelled “cartilage” (pronounced ‘kard-lij’) and then “osmosis” (pronounced ‘az-moses’), with the runner up being Alessandro Leporace, an 8th grader.  Max will represent Stella Schola at the 2007 Regional Bee for King and Snohomish counties on March 25th.  Both of the boys reside in Redmond.