Pacelli celebrates spelling whiz
Published 10:25 am Thursday, May 22, 2014
Pacelli Catholic Schools students hold up signs to compliment eighth-grader Shane DeSilva during a sendoff celebration Wednesday inside Pacelli High School. DeSilva will compete in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee next week. Trey Mewes/trey.mewes@austindailyherald.com
DeSilva gets school sendoff before National Spelling Bee trip
Austin’s Shane DeSilva got a warm sendoff at Pacelli Catholic Schools Wednesday before his upcoming trip to the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee next week.
“No one from Austin or Pacelli has ever in history gone to Washington, D.C., for the finals of the American spelling bee,” said Pacelli President Jim Hamburge.
Shane will compete against 281 spellers from all over the world, according to the Scripps website. The competition, which starts on Tuesday, May 27, with computer-based preliminary tests, goes through the week until Thursday, May 29, when the Championship Finals will start at 8 p.m.
Shane DeSilva, center, stands with his family during a sendoff celebration Wednesday inside Pacelli High School.
The final competition will be aired on ESPN.
The entire school celebrated the Pacelli eighth-grader’s accomplishments inside Pacelli Auditorium Wednesday afternoon. Several teachers, administrators, school boosters and even Austin Mayor Tom Stiehm offered words of advice for Shane.
“I’m honored to be here honoring him,” Stiehm said.
Shane said it was “pretty cool” to be honored by his classmates. He’s taking the upcoming Spelling Bee trip in stride, however.
“I don’t feel worried or nervous about it,” he said. “I feel pretty good about where I am and what I’ve done. Everybody else is pretty excited about it, so it feels good.”
Pacelli Catholic Schools President Jim Hamburge talks about eighth-grader Shane DeSilva’s accomplishments.
