On a flight home from Michigan last year, Leslie Pereira and her son Ben were watching Spellbound, a documentary about eight competitors in the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee. The film inspired Ben to ask if he could participate in a spelling bee. Pereira researched local spelling bees, but hardly any schools seem to be organizing them any more. That is when Pereira took it upon herself to organize the very first Pacific Palisades Spelling Bee for children in grades 1 - 5 who live in or attend school in the Palisades.

The "Pali Bee" took place on Sunday, January 22, at the Rustic Canyon Recreation Center. The day began at 10 am with the first and second graders taking a written 30-word spelling test. Only the top 10 scorers would move on to compete in the oral competition. Those who moved to the next round were called up to the stage one by one to spell five words in a row. Spellers were immediately told by the judges if they spelled the words correctly. Winners were determined by combining the written and oral scores, with one point given for correctly spelled words in the written test and two points in the oral portion. Third, fourth, and fifth graders had their turns between 1 and 3 pm.

The excitement of the Bee grew even more when a tiebreaker round was necessary for first place in the first grade division. Two tiebreaker rounds were required for second and third place in the group of second graders. Winners are as follows:

First Grade

1. Sam Volokh—Palisades Charter Elementary
2. Madeline Neilson—Corpus Christi School

3. Simon Lee—Center for Early Education 



Second Grade

1. Eli Kaplan-Packer—Pluralistic School (PS #1)
2. Oliver Garrett—Corpus Christi School
3. Ben Volokh—Palisades Charter Elementary

Third Grade

1. Liana Rostamian—Palisades Charter Elementary

2. Charlotte Costain—Palisades Charter Elementary
3. 
Maximus La Via—Corpus Christi School

Fourth/Fifth (combined testing)

1. Grace Cortese—St. Matthew's Parish School

2. William Elander—Marquez Elementary
3. 
Monica Martell—Marquez Elementary

Volunteer judges for the event included L.A. Superior Court Judges Carolyn Kuhl and William Highberger, Richard Rosser, Joan Ingle, Bill Bruns, and Michelle Bitting. Pacific Palisades honorary mayor Sugar Ray Leonard was on hand to present trophies to the winners.

Pereira says, "I was elated with how things came out. To have so many kids there really raised the bar!" A total of 113 students from 15 schools registered for the first ever Pacific Palisades Spelling Bee. It is bound not to be the last.

To learn more about the Pali Bee, or to donate to future events, visit their website.