MBS students, faculty and staff have many accomplishments this academic year
As we go to press, the 2020-2021 academic year at Mountain Brook Schools is nearing its end.
This month in Schoolhouse, we share several items from this semester about some of the academic, professional and even creative accomplishments of MBS students, faculty and staff.
Spelling champ
Sally Moore, a sixth grader at Mountain Brook Elementary School, won the MBS District Spelling Bee on Jan. 13 at Mountain Brook Junior High, according to a MBS news release.
Moore, who also won the District Bee when she was in fourth grade, represented MBS at the Jefferson County Spelling Bee in February.
She won he spot in the District Bee in December, when she finished first in the Mountain Brook Elementary Spelling Bee.
Not only that, but her brother, Davis Moore — he’s a fourth grader this year — finished second in the event at MBE, giving the siblings the top two spots.
This was the first time in the history of the MBE Spelling Bee that both the winner and runner-up of the competition were siblings.
Due to COVID-19, the competition at MBE had a different format than past years. Finalists gathered in the auditorium for a virtual spelling bee.
Each student had to spell 25 words on a computer while wearing headphones. Some of the words came from a 450-word study list published by the Scripps National Spelling Bee. There were also some other unannounced words on the list.
The Moore siblings were tied after the opening round, but Sally won the decisive 15-word second round.
Even though he lost to his sister, Davis enjoyed competing in the spelling bee for the first time.
He said that he had a “great time, although it was tough to learn all those words.”
Sally said that she studied had to study hard to win because many of her classmates are good spellers.
“There are lots of words every year,” she said. “You just have to take them a little at a time.”
Award-winning artists
Four MBS elementary students received recognition for the work they submitted to the State Art Show, according to an MBS release.
lona Sommers and Oscar Mondrago, both of whom attend Mountain Brook Elementary, placed first and second. Sommers submitted a vibrant drawing called “Winter Day,” and Mondrago submitted an atmospheric landscape called “A Fox in Winter.”
Evie Noel of Brookwood Forest Elementary won an honorable mention for a work called “Stingray.”
Jack Couch of Crestline Elementary School also received a honorable mention for a unique photographic piece called “The Great Wave off Kanagawa.”
Honoring the counselors
National School Counseling Week is celebrated each year during the first full week in February. Sponsored by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), the event seeks to focus public attention on the positive impact school counselors have in helping students be successful on school and plan for their careers.
National School Counseling Week was held this year from Feb.1-5, and MBS honored its counselors and support staff at all seven city schools:
► Brookwood Forest Elementary: Ashley Elliott
► Cherokee Bend Elementary: Laura Witcher
► Crestline Elementary: Liz Fry, Leah Treadwell
► Mountain Brook Elementary: Anna Carlisle
► Mountain Brook Junior High: Casey Lancaster, Jana Lee, Katherine Williams
► Mountain Brook High School: Ellanor Dukes, Rebecca Goodson, Kenneth Harkless, Karen Svetlay, Elizabeth Tiley, Whitney Voltz
For more about the ASCA, go to school counselor.org.
Winning the Gold Key
Liz Wood-Weas is the director of speech and debate for Mountain Brook Schools and has a marvelous record of achievement.
Throughout her career, her students have qualified for the elite Tournament of Champion debate competition at the University of Kentucky and also represent the state of Alabama each year as qualifiers at the national tournament, according to the MBS website.
Wood-Weas and her team also travel extensively to compete in top tournaments, including competitions at Harvard University and Stanford University.
This elite teacher received an honor of her own recently, according to a news release from MBS.
She was recently elected as a Key Coach by the Barkley Forum of the Gold Key Society of Emory University for her contributions as a teacher, coach and judge.
Never too young to serve
Mary Charles Delaney is only a third grader at Crestline Elementary School, but that did not stop her from helping out the less fortunate during the winter.
Delaney organized a coat drive at CES in December. She wanted to make a difference in Birmingham after studying homelessness as part of her enrichment program’s Genius Hour project.
Delaney collected the coats and delivered them to Family Promise of Birmingham, which distributed them to those in need.
“We need more people like you,” MBS Superintendent Dicky Barlow told Delaney at the January school board meeting. “You are an inspiration to us all.”
– Most of the information for this report was supplied by Sam Chandler at Mountain Brook Schools.