From No English to Top Speller
Two years ago, Estefania Bustos walked through the doors of Phoenix's Indian Bend Elementary School not speaking a word of English. An immigrant from Mexico, she cried for three weeks because she couldn't figure out what was going on. Thanks to her hard work and the Indian Bend Elementary staff, the fourth-grader recently won the schoolwide spelling bee and speaks English fluently. Principal Jeff Smith said the accomplishment is remarkable, because the 9-year-old has only recently learned English and was competing against fifth- and sixth-graders. Schoolwide spelling bees usually are won by the older students because they have the most knowledge of the English language. Estefania admits it wasn't easy to become the best speller in the 850-student school, 3633 E. Indian Bend Road, in the Paradise Valley Unified School District. "I studied every night," she said. Her practice increased over winter break. She read words over and over, spelling them out loud to her 14-year-old sister, who knows English. Adding to her confusion were certain words in Spanish and English that are essentially the same but with slightly different spellings, such as "dollar" in English and "dolar" in Spanish. When spelling bee day rolled around Jan. 4, Estefania was plenty nervous. "I was eating, I mean biting, my nails," she said. There were a couple of tense moments. She nearly forgot the "r" in February and the second "p" in opposite, which proved to be the winning word. Principal Smith credits the school's English-as-a-Second Language program for helping Estefania learn the language so quickly. Students in the program spend an hour a day learning English. Instruction is primarily in English, with Spanish used only as a tool. Smith said he expects the school won't have to change the program because of the passage of Proposition 203, which aims to do away with bilingual instruction and replace it with intensive, English-only instruction. Estefania's ELS teacher, Donna Orozco, said that hard work is a big part of learning any new language and that Estefania is an avid reader, checking out books from the school library in both English and Spanish. "The whole time she's been here, she's been very fun to work with," Orozco said. "She's enthusiastic, self-motivated, has a great sense of humor and gets along with all the kids." Estefania is a bit shy about the sudden praise being heaped upon her by teachers and classmates. Her advice for those who want to better their spelling is simple. "Study hard," she said, as she made her way back to her desk to read poetry. |