Deaf Student Beat Out The Entire Mainstream Elementary School in Spelling Bee!
Posted on: January 6, 201017 Comments
Cindy Robles Figueroa is a profoundly Deaf 6th grader at Lehi Elementary in Mesa, AZ. Lehi Elementary School is a public school with a mainstream program for the districts’ deaf and Hard of Hearing students. Cindy is taught by Ellen Kowalczyk a Deaf instructor in the areas of Language, Reading, Social Studies, Science and Writing. Cindy goes into the mainstream for math with an interpreter. Cindy is a bright young lady that strives to achieve in all subjects. Spelling has always been her favorite subject, in fact, she masters 100% on her weekly spelling exams. When asked if she wanted to participate in her school’s spelling bee, at first she wasn’t sure about it but with positive reinforcement, she decided to go for it. Having only three weeks to study 200 words from 3rd grade to 6th grade (50 words per grade) on top of her weekly classroom spelling words, she studied constantly. Cindy spent her time fingerspelling the spelling words during lunch and recess. During recess, she would run up to the classroom aide from off the playground to spell.
In preparation for the spelling bee, Cindy’s teacher worked with her with the list of selected words, reviewing both the spelling as well as the definition. One obstacle Cindy surpassed was when the word didn’t have a sign. Fingerspelling the word was prohibited due to obvious reasons. So, Cindy and her teacher devoted time in developing alternate signs or signed definitions so that the competition was fair to all involved.
On the day of the spelling bee, Cindy took the stage with 25 other hearing students. Rather than take any chances of misreading her fingerspellings of the words, the rules for the contest were modified for Cindy. While the hearing students would hear the pronunciation of the word and then verbally spell it, some of the students asked for a definition or have the word put in a sentence. However, Cindy received a word signed by her teacher, signed the word back, spelled it on a white board and then signed the word again. She never once asked for the definition of the word.
Throughout the contest, Cindy remained calm and poised, while her teacher was a nervous wreak. In the 12th round, Cindy was 1 of 5 student left. In that round everyone spelled their word wrong, so Cindy was the finalist and she needed to correctly spell her word plus an additional word. Her winning word was fertilizer. She spelled that word right and the crowd applauded her. We are so proud of her. Way to go Cindy!
Submitted by Ellen Kowalczyk
April Pullins
H.I. Special Ed.
Lehi Elementary
January 9th, 2010 at 12:01 am
A BIG THUMB UP TO YOU CINDY !!!! I AM PROUD OF YOU EVEN THOUGH I DONT KNOW YOU BUT I READ YOUR STORY AND REALLY TOUCHED MY HEART.A BIG SUPPORT FOR OTHER DEAF PEOPLE STUDENTS OUT THERE TO SEE THIS !!!! WAY TO GO … SPELLING ALWAYS HAVE BEEN MY FAVORITE AND NOW I COULD PASS IT ON TO MY KIDS.
GOOD LUCK FOR YOUR FUTURE AND KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AT SCHOOL
January 11th, 2010 at 11:50 am
Congratulation Cindy, you’d be amazed if you keep study this and realized none of the words you’ve memorized will be disappeared.
January 13th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
I congratulate your successful spelling bee . You show to the hearing people that deaf students can do any thing in school , no limits.Sue
January 16th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
hi elllen
you are wonderfully teacher and never give up your students also cindy tooo wonderfully i wish to learn same way cindy i am very very happy
janice edington
February 3rd, 2010 at 9:57 pm
wow Congratulation Cindy! i’m proud of you.. i’m surprised that you can do that by way successful. keep it going to do.
February 5th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
VERY GOOD SPELLING BEE, I BELIEVE YOU WAS THE FIRST ONE IN HISTORY. HELEN (DEAF AND BLIND) VS CINDY (DEAF) GOOD LUCKY !!
February 6th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
This is what happens when students receive education in their native language! They learn much better than when forced to overcome a language barrier AND learn a subject. This is why the law for Bilingual Education ought to apply to deaf students. It just makes sense!
February 13th, 2010 at 11:40 am
way to go!! Deaf can do anything!! Nothing should stop us our dream.. Go for it!!
February 16th, 2010 at 7:39 pm
CONGRATS CINDY AND ELLEN!!!
I am HH/Deaf myself and won all my Spelling Bees while attending a Catholic School from 2nd to 8th grade! 
It really helped me greatly during my adult life as well as for our four children. 
February 24th, 2010 at 11:44 am
Yippie! Congrats to Cindy and Ellen. Ellen you are an amazing teacher! I agree, student’s need to learn in their native language. Ellen you are a role model for so many kids, and Cindy is well on her way. Hmm…let me predict. I’ve got a feeling when Cindy grows up, she will be one of the kids to major in Deaf Education. Im already recruiting. LOL
February 24th, 2010 at 10:44 pm
Way to go kiddo keep up the good work. I am learning asl at mcc very interesting culture I love the culture still learning and plan to get more involved in the deaf culture. Hats off to all of you! Love you all
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Congrats! Mainstream program is one of the best education in the nation for deaf people! I attended mainstream program when I was in K grade until I graduated in high school. I am profoundly deaf engineer for the local government. Cindy would become very successful in the future with good job! I am very proud of you!
Amen!
p.s. I can spell for word Congratulations in Synonyms: Adulation and felicitation
March 12th, 2010 at 11:05 pm
Congratulations Cindy! Your hard work will show other students both Deaf and Hearing that hard work pays off! That is a hugs accomplishment to beat out all of the hearing kids. I think that’s wonderful how motivated you were and how hard you worked giving up your recess time to work on learning how to spell 300 words. Keep up the hard work and you will go far in life!!
April 27th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Cindy, I am so proud of you and your teacher! Please hug her for me – she believes in you and your amazing Deaf brain! smiles I am an interpreter in a school in Georgia. I will share this story and your picture with the D/HH students I work with… They will be inspired to see from your wonderful example! Deaf CAN! Good luck and best wishes for your future! I hope to see your name again! I know I will…
May 1st, 2010 at 1:42 pm
deaf power!! good job cindy
July 17th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
CONGRATULATIONS! HOW WONDERFUL, CINDY! YOU DID IT!! AND YOU SET A POSITIVE EXAMPLE FOR OTHERS IN THE DEAF COMMUNITY THAT ANYTHING CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED. YOUR TEACHER DID IT THU TOUGH TIMES – BY HERHELF WITHOUT HELP FROM ANYONE – BECAME A TEACHER WITH A MASTERS DEGREE. I AM PROUD OF HER TOO.
July 20th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Cindy, you should be so proud of yourself. Ellen, you are beautiful, inside and out. Every day the work you do makes a difference in this world. It’s a much better place because of people like you!