Office of the Pima County School Superintendent

Press Releases

February 10, 2007

Pima County Spelling Bee Winners

( Tucson, AZ) Girls continued their winning ways at the Pima County Spelling Bee on Saturday, taking all three top spots again this year. Nicole Rapatan, an eighth grader at Sonoran Science Academy, won first place, a repeat of last year’s performance. Jessica Nairn, a seventh grader at Desert Sky Middle School, won second place, and Olivia Valencia, an eighth grader from Saints Peter and Paul Catholic School took third place.

Nicole and Jessica will represent Pima County at the state spelling bee in Tempe on Saturday, March 31, and Olivia will serve as the alternate. The winner of the state spelling bee will advance to the national spelling bee in Washington, D.C., in May.

A change in the format for choosing the winners this year meant the last round was a written contest instead of an oral one. The finalists were given a list of ten words, with the student correctly spelling the most named the winner. The final word list was paraphrasable, vehemence, forgeable, witticism, hermetically, tincture, narcissism, potpourri, idiosyncratic, and luminance.

The National Spelling Bee is the oldest and largest academic contest in the United States. The bee is an educational program designed to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn language concepts and develop correct English usage. The first national spelling bee was held in 1925.

 

December 27, 2006

Pima County Home Educators Geography Bee

 (Tucson, AZ) The Pima County Home Educators Geography Bee is set for 1 p.m., Saturday, January 6, 2007, at the Woods Memorial Branch Library, 3455 N. First Ave. Open to homeschoolers in grades four through eight, the bee is a first step toward competing in the National Geographic Bee.

The winner of the homeschool bee will be given the opportunity to take a qualifying test to determine whether he or she qualifies to go on to the next level of competition, the state geography bee.

Homeschool students in grades four through eight who meet National Geographic's eligibility requirements and who are not over the age of 15 by the time of the national level competition may compete. Advance registration is not required but it is recommended; register online at homeschoolgeographybee@yahoo.com or by phone at 884-5113.

According to National Geographic's rules, students enrolled in public or private schools, including publicly funded virtual academies, may not compete as part of a homeschool association's bee and, conversely, students who are homeschooled must participate through a registered homeschool association.

More information about the bee, its eligibility requirements, and study resources may be found on the National Geographic Bee web site at www.nationalgeographic.com/geographybee.

 

December 19, 2006

Pima County Joint Technological Education District Oath of Office

(Tucson) – Pima County School Superintendent Dr. Linda Lee Arzoumanian announced today that the Oath of Office for the newly appointed governing board members of the Joint Technological Education District (JTED) will be held on Monday, January 8, 2007 from 5:30 – 6:00 p.m. at:

Pima Community College – Downtown Campus
Amethyst Room
1255 North Stone Avenue
Tucson, Arizona

The establishment of the Joint Technological Education District was approved by the voters at the general election on November 7, 2006. One member from each participating district has been appointed by its governing board to serve on the JTED governing board. The terms of office for the JTED board members become effective January 1, 2007 and the appointed members will serve until December 31, 2008.