Round Rock ISD hosted its inaugural Spanish Academic Meet for dual language students to compete in Spanish language writing, spelling, storytelling and reading.

Students from Anderson Mill, Berkman, Bluebonnet, Caldwell Heights, Callison, Gattis, Herrington, Union Hill, Voigt and Wells Branch elementary schools participated in the academic event, which was held Feb. 4 at Callison Elementary School. Both native speakers and opt-in dual language students who are learning Spanish were invited to participate in the competition.

“Our district recognized a need, and 10 of our dual language campuses jumped at the opportunity to build an innovative competition for our students to showcase their bilingual talents,” said Hope Scallan, Round Rock ISD enrichment coordinator. “Our first Spanish Academic Meet was an outstanding example of our community coming together to celebrate the success and ambitions of our dual language students.”

Campuses that produced the most points from accumulated individual competitors earned the overall Spanish Academic Meet Sweepstakes awards. Caldwell Heights led the competition with first place, Gattis won second place and Wells Branch earned third place.

The following individual student awards are listed below:

Escritura Creativa (Creative Writing) Second Grade: Daniel Alvarez, first place, Bluebonnet; Ella Bailey, second place, Caldwell Heights; and Diego Sol, third place, Wells Branch.

Escritura Acelerada (Accelerated Writing) Third Grade: Kate Penaloza, first place, Wells Branch; Monseratt Soto, second place, Wells Branch; and Cristopher Espinoza, third place, Caldwell Heights.

Escritura Acelerada (Accelerated Writing) Fourth and Fifth Grade: Luis Medina, first place, Callison; Harper VanEis, second place, Anderson Mill; Jasmine Ramos, third place tie, Caldwell Heights and Galilea Serna, third place tie, Gattis.

Ortografia (Spelling) Third Grade: Eduardo Lozano, first place, Caldwell Heights; Joselin Nieto, second place, Callison; and Marco Mendoza, third place, Callison.

Ortografia (Spelling) Fourth Grade: Maria Quiñoes Reguerra, first place, Herrington; Ruth Reyes, second place, Herrington; and Sebastian Yacoub, third place, Gattis.

Ortografia (Spelling) Fifth Grade: Francisco Delara Jimenez, first place, Gattis; Ritta Flores, second place, Caldwell Heights; and Andrea Recendez, third place, Gattis.

Narracion de Cuentos (Storytelling): Abigail Delgado, first place, Union Hill; Diego Sol, second place, Wells Branch; and Karina Ospinal-Aplicano, third place, Gattis.

Lectura en Voz Alta (Reading Aloud) Fourth Grade: Francisco J. Oliveros, first place, Gattis; Justin Mejia, second place, Bluebonnet; and Danile Medina, third place, Bluebonnet.

Lectura en Voz Alta (Reading Aloud) Fifth Grade: Alondra Aranda, first place, Caldwell Heights; Emily Rose, second place, Anderson Mill; and Anabella Sanchez, third place, Caldwell Heights.