A coalition of young Bearcats cheered on their classmates like they were watching varsity football at Massey Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
The scene, however, was the Pilot Point Elementary School cafeteria, and the occasion, the Spanish Spelling Bee.
'I loved the vibe with the kids,' said Marzia Infante, the Pilot Point High School principal and one of the Bee judges. '… I love how they were like, 'You've got this. You've got this.'' Several fourth and fifth grade bilingual students put their spelling skills to the test on stage for their peers and a collection of family and friends.
Dalia Sandoval, the PPISD special programs coordinator, shared the rules with the participants, judges and crowd in Spanish.
The details were also provided by the Region 11 English Learner Support Team in English for the districts.
Participants get one chance to hear the word again, and they have the opportunity to write out the word on a small whiteboard.
If the student starts and stops, they have to keep the letters and their order the same.
Every part of the word, down to the accents and whether a letter is capitalized, must be said correctly for the word to count, as must the pronunciation of the letters themselves.
Having to tell the kids, 'Es incorrecto,' was the hardest part for Infante, who was one of the three judges.
'I hated that I had to eliminate so many because it's a technicality— the B versus V in Spanish— and so there's a special way they have to say it,' she said.
Infante loved seeing how prepared the kids were, both with their spelling and their appearance.
'Parents understand and it matters to them that their child looks presentable in front of everybody, so I think that was very special,' she said.
Carol Trejo, the PPISD human resources specialist, and Julieta Ramirez, the district's bookkeeper and accounts payable specialist, also served as judges.
Ramirez loved the experience and hopes to do it again 'if they want me to come back.'
'It just felt really nice, seeing all these kids, that they studied and they were trying their best,' she said. '… I actually got kind of teary-eyed at the end. It was amazing to see them do their best.'
She added that she hopes to continue to grow the Bee, which last year was in a classroom and this year was on stage.
'I hope that [sixth grade] will participate next year,' Sandoval said. '… What we want to do is, we want to continue to promote them being bilingual, for them not to leave that area of their life behind.'
That encouragement to embrace their heritage and their second language together is important, Sandoval said.
She also served as the word-caller, kicking off each with, 'La palabra es.'
On difficult words, the kids in the crowd would gasp.
At times, those gasps were accompanied by crossed fingers or hands clasped in prayer shape.
If they felt confident they could spell it, they would call it easy.
Either way, chants of, 'We believe in you,' called out from the crowd for the friend on stage.
Pilot Point Elementary's winner was fourthgrader Irlanda Marquez, who overcame her nervousness and loved the experience.
Her parents, Ricardo and Rossy Marquez, were cheering her on from the crowd, and they were beaming with pride when she won.
'When we went over the words, she didn't have to write them,' Ricardo said. 'We told her the word, and she would spell it right away.'
Irlanda will next compete at the Region 11 Spanish Spelling Bee, which could lead to the state or national stage.
After a quick chat with her dad, she said, 'I'm going to win.'
