Wisconsin School for the Deaf - The Wisconsin Times Vol. 135 No. 4 Summer 2014 | Page 4

Fingerspelling Bees
Fingerspelling is a critical skill for Deaf students, both receptively and expressively. In an effort to encourage
fingerspelling while having fun, WSD hosted three fingerspelling bees this spring. Word lists were developed
and passed out to upper elementary, middle school and high school students in advance. Students had
approximately two months to practice.
Kent Schafer was the moderator for each of the fingerspelling bees, the students’ own teachers signed the words,
and Chris Rawlings, Kari Todd, Scott Kendziorski were judges.
The high school fingerspelling bee included 21 students and needed five rounds to narrow the field down to
the final two. The word that turned the tide was chaperone. The word that decided it all was exhibit. Winners
were Alex Kubiske (3rd), Hailey Przybylski (2nd), and Lyssa Matsche (1st). The high school fingerspelling bee
sportsmanship award went to Daniel Romero. His hard work studying for the bee was revealed on stage as he
hung tough with the other competitors.
The middle school fingerspelling bee included 16 competitors and 12 rounds to narrow the field to the final
four students. The word that turned the tide was gasoline. The word that decided it all was neighbor. Winners
were Wyatt Stoller (4th) Madison Bongard (3rd), Tao Yi Page (2nd), and Faith Sims (1st). The middle school
sportsmanship award went to Wyatt Stoller. Of all the competitors, he modeled the ideal student role for
participation in a serious competition. He was calm, cool and collected throughout.
The 4th and 5th grade fingerspelling bee included 11 competitors and countless rounds to narrow the field to the
final two competitors. Katie and Caitlyn went back and forth for about a dozen more words, but the word that
finally turned the tide was question. The word that decided it all was water. Winners were Jalila Martens (4th)
Thomas Carrol Jr. (3rd), Katie McClyman (2nd), and Caitlyn Pocza-Buchman (1st). This was by far the longest
fingerspelling bee of the year. The elementary sportsmanship award goes to Caitlyn Pocza-Buchman. She was
humble and modest, but also cheered on her classmates giving high fives and signing, ‘GOOD JOB!’
Winners each received a bag filled with goodies including gift cards (HS), items from the PBIS store (MS) and
cookies (4th & 5th) along with a certificate identifying their place in the event and a jar of honey from Ruah
Orchards. So many people were involved in making these fingerspelling bees successful. Staff members have
already started planning for next year’s fingerspelling bees. Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! WSD will have busy bees next
year!

CLOCKWISE:
The middle school
winners were
Madison Bongard (3rd),
Faith Sims (1st), and Tao
Yi Page (2nd).
Faith competes for the
championship!
ABOVE:
The high school winners were
Alex Kubiske (3rd), Lyssa Matsche (1st),
and Hailey Przybylski (2nd).
2013-14 Summer - 4

Students in the 4th and
5th grades competed in
their own division.