GRANTS - Jaylyn Sanchez, a fourth grader at Milan Elementary School, used her intelligence and hard work to win this year's Spanish Spelling Bee.

She translated her intelligence to correctly spell “inteligente,” the winning word.

The contest was held on March 26 in the Cibola County Convention Center and sponsored by Grants/Cibola County Schools.

“Jaylyn is an outstanding student and is very caring and humble. She is an excellent role model,” said Sanchez's teacher, Christina Vega.

Tirza Gamez of Yvonne Aragon's Mesa View Elementary School class came in second place and Alejandro Galindo, also in Aragon's class, scored third.

The top three finishers said they have at least one parent that comes from Mexico and they speak Spanish at home.

The winners had been practicing the official wordlist provided by the New Mexico Association for Bilingual Education since February. All three expressed enthusiasm for the contest and said they would participate again next year.

While waiting her turn, Sanchez admitted she was kind of nervous and was hoping to win.

“I thought I might win or I might not,” said the fourth grader at the luncheon for all the contestants that followed the contest.

The contest was open to students in the fourth through eighth grades. Their teachers helped their classes to practice the list of about 1,000 words, and to also learn the rules that included clarification of more complex sounds. They chose the top ten spellers from each class to enter the spelling bee.

Only words with clear meanings and that could be found in the Pequeño Larousse Ilustrado dictionary or a similar Spanish dictionary were used. Words like zoomortismo, semiesf�©rico and quimioterapia, from the list provided by the state, were required studying by the contestants. However, words used in the bee were more likely to be found in ordinary conversation.

“The bilingual program helps the students to build their vocabulary in Spanish and English. The more languages a person knows, the more vocabulary he has,” said Mario Marquez, Spanish teacher at Los Alamitos Middle School.

Orieta Chavez, the bilingual instructor for San Rafael Elementary School, said that all the students there attend her Spanish class.

“Navajo, Pueblo, Spanish and Anglo students all attend,” said Chavez.

Her students can talk to their grandparents now, and their parents can't keep secrets in Spanish anymore, Chavez related.

“We know what you're saying,” Chavez said her children tell their parents.

This April 18, Sanchez will compete in the State Spanish Spelling Bee at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque.