The second annual Duke Regional Spelling Bee opened at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 12 with 56 champion spellers seated in rows on the stage of Page Auditorium, their families, teachers and principals beaming up from below.

 

"Speller No. 1, from A.L. Stanback Middle, your word is 'sultan,'" opened Judith Ruderman, Duke professor in English, retired vice provost, and for the second year in a row, pronouncer for the regional bee.

Naomi Braswell spelled "sultan" quickly and easily, yielding the microphone to her 55 competitors who one by one attempted words like "gunnysack" and "caboose."

Twenty-five spellers were eliminated in Round One. More than 15 rounds later, only two spellers remained: Jesus Ayala Lara of Chewning Middle School in Durham, and Simisola Gbadegesin, of Durham School of the Arts.  Ruderman gave them words like peloton, fennec, baedeker, hoomalili, and insulberg, all spelled quickly and correctly.

Then Gbadegesin missed "muishond." If Ayala got the next word, he would win the regional bee and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in June.

Once he heard the language of origin, he didn't even pause. "Schottische. S-c-h-o-t-t-i-s-c-h-e. Schottische."

Ruderman confirmed the spelling and the audience erupted into applause.

The Office of Durham and Regional Affairs began sponsoring the regional bee in 2010, the first time in recent memory that elementary and middle school students in Durham and Orange counties had the chance to compete for a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The 2010 regional winner was Jessia Connelly of Orange Charter School.

This year, every public elementary and middle school in Durham sent a champion speller to the regional bee. Other spellers came from Orange County Schools, with a few from local charter and private schools.

Though Chewning Principal Jim Key knew that all 56 spellers were champions, he said he never doubted that Ayala would win.

"He's just a tremendous, tremendous person and student," Key said. "He's one of the best students I've had, in 27 years."

After congratulating Gbadegesin for her title of Regional Runner-Up, Vice President for Durham and Regional Affairs Phail Wynn Jr. presented Ayala with his prizes and asked what he most looked forward to about visiting the nation's capitol for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Ayala thought about it. "I think it's really exciting that I might be on TV."

 

Click here for more photos from the 2011 regional bee.  

See the full Durham and Regional Affairs Education Architecture.

BY CHRIS TAYLOR, First-Year Communications Intern 

 

Just over a year ago, Nicole Hampsten was leading hikes through the wilderness of Alaska. Today, with support from the Duke-Durham Campaign, she works to support Duke students on their own journeys of community engagement.

 

Hampsten's path to becoming an AmeriCorps VISTA in Duke's Office of Community Affairs was far from linear. She has experience in the field of special-needs education and has studied recreation, tourism and management. While working with the Alaska Conservation Foundation, Hampsten decided she wanted to pursue her passion for education, with a focus on service. That's how she ended up in Durham.

 

"Coming from Los Angeles, where you may not even know your neighbor, I was extremely impressed with Duke students and their dedication to improving this community," she said. "Even though most students come from hundreds or thousands of miles away, they are all so willing to give back and help the community in any way they can."

 

In Hampsten's role as an AmeriCorps VISTA, she works with the North Carolina Campus Compact and focuses on issues of hunger and food security. In her capacity as Duke's Student Outreach Coordinator, Hampsten works to recruit volunteers for 28 student service groups, organize events, and facilitate student service in a variety of ways.

"I thought that recruitment would be hard," she said. "But there is so much support from the entire community. I have been encouraged by the number of Duke students who contact me about volunteer work."

Hampsten's AmeriCorps position is set to end in July. She said she looks forward to her final few months in this capacity and to finding new ways to work with the Durham community.

 

"It is a great program," Hampsten said. "I have been able to do a little bit of everything. I would be thrilled to stay in Durham and continue to work with the Duke-Durham community."

Click here for photos from Dive Into Durham, one of Hampsten's recent student engagement projects.

BY CHRIS TAYLOR, First-Year Communications Intern

Teresa Brantley, Media Coordinator for Durham School of the Arts, noticed an alarming trend in extra-curricular reading among middle school students: It seemed split by gender and race divides. While many middle school girls frequented the library and loved to read, she did not see nearly as many boys, especially African American boys.

Brantley knew she had to do something to encourage African American male middle school students to read. She had the idea of creating a special book club targeted toward these students, with the aim of encouraging them to read on their own.

DSA's Language Arts and Social Studies teachers identified the students they believed would most benefit from such a program, and Brantley applied for a grant from Duke's Doing Good in the Neighborhood employee giving campaign. The grant would fund books for the students, art supplies for book-related projects, and even author visits via Skype.

The grant was approved, and Brantley began working with a community service class at N.C. Central University to implement the program. Three students from the class were matched with DSA to help develop the project. 

The book club got off to a successful start a few weeks ago. The group of eighth grade African American males began reading The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon, a novel about the struggle of the thirteen-year-old son of an African American civil rights activist in 1968 Chicago.

At a recent meeting of the book club, NCCU student Eric Hill recounted a scene from the novel involving overt racism by a store employee, and he asked students to share if they had any similar experience. Students quickly engaged in a discussion about personal experiences in which they felt singled out or judged based on their race.

"It's all about that kind of personal growth," said NCCU student Brandon Fisher of the books and dialogue offered by the program.

The NCCU volunteers recognized themselves the need for encouraging reading among young African American males, and they said they thought the book club was a great first step.

"We want to show them reading is not something you are forced into, but something that can be fun," Hill said. "We want to give them the idea that there are books out there you can enjoy."

Brantley said she is very satisfied with the life the book club has already taken within a short few weeks.

"We really want to promote the idea that reading is a social experience, not a solitary experience. We want to take literature beyond one person and an old book," she said. "What if, afterward, they enjoyed the experience so much they want to read more and even meet on their own? We would have really done something amazing." 

Click here for more photos from the March 21 book club. 

Follow the links below to see how the Office of Durham and Regional Affairs and its partners in Duke community engagement have made headlines.

"Making the most of every opportunity"
The Herald-Sun, 3/22/11
Congratulations to Allyson Jones, a student at the City of Medicine Academy and Duke University's Durham Student of the Week for March 22.

"Duke University's Durham Student of the Week"
The Herald-Sun, 3/15/11
Chrishawna Mason of Lowe's Grove Middle School was chosen by Durham Public Schools as Duke University's Durham Student of the Week for March 15.

"Duke students give swimming lessons to pediatric patients"
The News & Observer, 3/11/11
The Duke Pediatric Aquatic Life Skills (PALS) program, led by Duke undergraduates, gives swimming lessons to children undergoing long-term medical treatment at Duke Hospital as a way to engage the children in a fun, safe and challenging activity.

"Students 'dive into Durham'"
Duke Today, 3/10/11
With support from Duke's Office of Community Affairs and the Office of Student Community Volunteer Programs, a group of Duke students got the chance to explore Durham's non-profits through a week-long service immersion experience during spring break.

"Durham and Orange's top spellers to face off at Duke"
The Herald-Sun, 3/10/11
This preview of the 2011 Duke Regional Spelling Bee featured the names of all the school champion spellers who would compete in the regional bee on Duke's campus.

"'I try to go all out in everything I do'"
The Herald-Sun, 3/8/11
Congratulations to Duke University's Durham Student of the Week for March 8, Cody Leovic of Northern High School.

"Barksdale no stranger to challenges"
The Herald-Sun, 3/1/11
Duke University's Durham Student of the Week for March 1 was Andrew Barksdale, a senior at Northern High School.

"Research for the superintendent"
Duke Today, 2/28/11
Through the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke students conducted research projects on behalf of Durham Public Schools, exploring topics such as the effect of uniforms on school climate and different models of teacher compensation.