Bradford Students Sweep Top 3 Spots at Spanish Spelling Bee

SAN ANGELO, TX — Bradford Elementary School students swept the top three spots in the fourth–fifth grade division at the third Annual Region 15 Spanish Spelling Bee on March 3. 

Hosted by the Region 15 Education Service Center, the event brought together students from across the region to showcase their mastery of Spanish vocabulary. 

Fourth-grader Emmanuel Cuevas won the meet, while fifth-grader Esmeralda Cuevas was second, and fifth-grader Daniel Sanchez was third.

Emmanuel and Esmeralda will advance to the State Spanish Spelling Bee in El Paso in June.

“Watching the final rounds of the Spanish Spelling Bee as my students advanced to the finals made me feel very proud and excited,” said Bradford Elementary Principal Dr. Marissa Guerrero. “I was impressed by their confidence, preparation, and the effort they put into learning and spelling the words correctly. It was rewarding to see their hard work pay off and to watch them represent Bradford Elementary School so well.”

Dr. Guerrero said students interested in participating were invited to compete at the campus level. From those participants, the top 12 spellers were selected to represent their school at the regional event.

The spelling bee featured two divisions: grades 4–5 and grades 6–8. In the middle school division, seven students competed across nine rounds. The elementary division included 17 competitors from grades 4 and 5.

“One of the most memorable moments was during the Grades 4-5 competition where three students from Bradford Elementary went 12 rounds until one was eliminated to get to our last two students,” said Mary Castanuela, Title III Education Specialist at Region 15. “It was amazing that all three students did so well with the multisyllabic words and words with accents. The final two then went two rounds before we crowned our champion.”

San Angelo ISD stated that community partners who made the event possible were Angelo State University, Hartman Roofing, H-E-B, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Juany’s Salsa, Julio’s and the Consulate of Mexico in Del Rio.