General
Home Basketball Games: There are a few home basketball games this week. Check the Principal’s Page for details.
Fight’n Knight Shirts: This Friday students are welcome to wear either their Fight’n Knight shirts and nice jeans or the regular school uniform. Friday is the first home game (on a weekday) for our boys varsity basketball team.
Len Jordan’s Memorial Service: Len’s service will take place on Sunday the 16th at 2:00 PM in the Knight’s Court. All are welcome.
Elementary
Spelling Bee: The 1st – 6th graders will be competing in an in-school spelling bee February 3rd. Lists will come home this week. The rules are included below.
Secondary
CTP-4 Testing: Our 7th – 11th graders will be taking their annual standardized tests next week. Please avoid any absences if possible. Part-time students do not take these tests, see Mr. Carnahan regarding the schedule change.
Snow Clothing Guidelines
1. Students are not to wear snow clothes in the classroom (hats, scarves, jackets, snow pants, etc…).
2. Snow boots are allowed in the classrooms as long as they have been sufficiently stomped and cleaned prior to entering the building.
3. Parents of younger students, please have your child practice putting his own snow clothes on, otherwise it can take half of recess just getting dressed! Thank you.
Cheers,
Matt Whitling
Spelling Bee Rules:
1. The competitors will be given a practice round to acquaint them with the procedures and give them a chance to relax. No one will be eliminated during the practice round.
2. Each competitor, after being given a word, should SAY the word, SPELL the word, and then SAY it again. If the word is mispronounced, the spellmaster should correct the student (Homonyms should automatically be put into a sentence or accompanied with a definition). This SAY-SPELL-SAY procedure must be followed to ensure that: (1) the speller understands the correct word, and (2) the judges know when the spelling is complete and no more letters will be added. The head judge will stop the student if he fails to pronounce the word before spelling, or if it is pronounced incorrectly. NOTE: Failure to say-spell-say will not in itself eliminate the speller from competition, but it will reduce the chances of correct spelling and/or the ability to arbitrate.
3. Contestants must speak clearly and loudly. The spellmaster’s decision is final in determining the correctness of the spelling, which may be misunderstood if not spoken clearly.
4. The contestant may, before beginning to spell, ask for a definition of the word, ask for the word to be used in a sentence, and/or ask for the word to be repeated. Requests will be granted until the officials agree that the word has been made reasonably clear to the speller. If a student takes unreasonable advantage of this opportunity, he will be advised by the spellmaster to say the word and begin spelling.
5. If the word is a proper noun, the spellmaster must say “proper noun” after the word is given so that the student will know to say “capital” at the beginning of the word. It does not disqualify the student, however, if he forgets to say “capital” but spells the word correctly.
6. If there are two words, e.g. Rocky Mountains, the student should say “space” between the words. No penalty will be incurred if the student does not say “space.”
7. Books of the Bible that have a Roman numeral in front of them, e.g. I, II, or III John, should only be used as the name. The student should not be required to say or spell “first”, “second”, etc.
8. Words should be selected in a planned sequence, without regard to the perceived ability of the student. The student will have 30 seconds to spell the word from the time he begins the word. Once a word is started, the student may start over, but may only use the letters originally stated; no letter changes are allowed.
9. No talking will be allowed among contestants or between contestants and members of the audience. If a contestant receives assistance from anyone in the audience, he will be disqualified. The audience is also requested to remain seated until a break, to avoid confusing or distracting the contestants.
10. When a word is misspelled, the spellmaster will say, “That is incorrect,” then correctly spell the word for the contestant, and give the next word to the next speller. However, when only two spellers remain, the procedures will follow rules #12 and #13.
11. Rounds will continue, with a written record of which students went down in which round, until four students remain. Then it will be announced that third and fourth places will be determined by the next two contestants to go out.
12. When only two spellers remain, the spellmaster will pause to announce the change of elimination procedures. At that point, when one contestant misspells a word, the other contestant shall be given an opportunity to spell that same word. If the second contestant spells that word correctly, plus the next word on the spellmaster’s list, then the second contestant shall be declared the champion.
13. At any point in the bee, if the competitors exhaust the word list for that grade, the spellmaster is to use words from the next highest grade’s list. If, after a number rounds, no one has been eliminated, the spellmaster is to switch to the next higher grade’s word list. This applies even when there are only two competitors remaining.
14. The names and places of the top four winners should be turned in to the principal right after the bee.
15. The top two place winners in 3rd – 6th grade will compete in a School Championship Bee. This will determine the Champion Speller of the school.