Spanish Spelling Champion Stella Shahbabian, right, and Runner Up Micaela Ramos-Cho, left.

After five rounds and correctly spelling “político,” Stella Shahbabian, a fourth grader from Denton Creek Elementary, is the 2023 CISD Spanish Spelling Bee Champion. Micaela Ramos-Cho, a fourth grader from Wilson Elementary, is the First Runner Up. 

The CISD Spanish Spelling Bee was held Feb. 13 at the Vonita White Administration Building. Shahbabian will represent CISD by competing in the Region 10 Spanish Spelling Bee in March. 

The CISD elementary school campus Spanish Spelling Bee participants who competed Feb. 13 were:

• Fátima Coria – Denton Creek Elementary

• Stella Shahbabian – Denton Creek Elementary

• Santiago Zurita – Denton Creek Elementary

• Ana Paula Jugo – Wilson Elementary 

• Luna Lopez – Wilson Elementary

• Micaela Ramos-Cho – Wilson Elementary

• Karis Wilkins – Wilson Elementary

Not listed is Denton Creek Elementary fifth grader Diego Zambrano, who could not attend the event. Each of these participants were the top spellers in their campuses’ Spanish spelling bees.

Judges for the event were Language Acquisition Specialist Ana Covey, Pinkerton Elementary Spanish and Language Acquisition Specialist Narda Holguin and parent of former CISD DLI learners Arnoldo Lara. Bilingual/ESL Instructional Coach Maricela Leon served as the Pronouncer. The event was organized by Bilingual/ESL Instructional Coach Stacy McGill under the leadership of Director of ESL and Bilingual Programs Dr. Patricia Dawson.