School Notebook: Studying pays off for fourth-grader

“G-o-v-e-r-n-m-e-n-t” spells winner for Ismat Agwedicham, a fourth-grader at New Horizons Community Charter School who spelled the word correctly to win her school's spelling bee this month.

Students in the Newark school for grades K to 5 had been studying their dictionaries for almost two months to prepare for the contest.

"When we announced the spelling bee, the entire school transformed," said Andre Hollis, New Horizons principal.

Ismat will now advance to the semi-final bee, being held in March at Bergen County Community College. "I really enjoyed participating in the spelling bee … I would advise next year's winner to try their hardest when keeping up with all of their words and to not be nervous," Ismat said.