Ignacio Ruiz Superintendent of Las Cruces Public Schools | Official Website
Ignacio Ruiz Superintendent of Las Cruces Public Schools | Official Website
On July 1, 2023, Natalia Acosta-Briones, a seventh-grade student from Mesa Middle School, secured first place at the National Spanish Spelling Bee (NSSB) held in El Paso, Texas. After five hours of competition, she tied with Emilio Fuentes from Woodlands, Texas.
Natalia has been participating in the National Spanish Spelling Bee since her time at Sunrise Elementary School. She won first place at the Las Cruces Public Schools District Spanish Spelling Bee for the 2022-2023 school year and went on to compete in the State Spanish Spelling Bee, where she finished third overall. In the previous year, she achieved second place at the 2021-2022 National Spanish Spelling Bee.
"Teachers and staff from Bilingual Education, Translation & Interpretation, & Community Outreach, including her advisors and teachers at Sunrise Elementary and Mesa Middle School are all proud of Natalia," said GeAnn Killgore, Coordinator of English Learner Programs K-12 in the Bilingual Education Department.
"She’s a hard worker and we’re so proud that this year she did tie for first place and she just continues building those leadership skills," Killgore added.
The event took place at Education Service Center Region 19 and featured twenty-eight champions from across the United States. Participants demonstrated their exceptional Spanish spelling abilities by tackling challenging words such as 'incognoscible' and 'moaxaja.' The competition started at 9:00 a.m. and concluded around 2:30 p.m., ending in a stalemate.
"Both Emilio and Natalia proved to be outstanding spellers and deserved the first-place title," stated David Briseño, NSSB Founder and Coordinator. "It gives me great joy to know we have such determined and poised young people in this competition," Briseño added.
The National Spanish Spelling Bee is open to students in grades four through eight who have placed in a State or Regional Spanish Spelling Bee within that year. Since its inception in 2011, participation has grown annually with champions emerging from various states across the country.
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