HLS 172ES-51 ORIGINAL
2017 Second Extraordinary Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 7
BY REPRESENTATIVE SMITH
COMMENDAT IONS: Commends Cierra Wilson for her first-place win in the Louisiana
Children's Discovery Center 2017 Regional Spelling Bee
1 A RESOLUTION
2To commend Cierra Wilson for winning first place in the Louisiana Children's Discovery
3 Center 2017 Regional Spelling Bee and for representing Louisiana in the Scripps
4 National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
5 WHEREAS, Cierra Wilson is an eighth-grade student at McKinley Middle Academic
6Magnet School in Baton Rouge, and on Saturday, March 25, 2017, Cierra won first place in
7the Regional Spelling Bee held by Louisiana Children's Discovery Center; and
8 WHEREAS, Cierra's first-place win in the Regional Spelling Bee gave her the
9opportunity to join four other Louisiana students to represent the state in the Scripps
10National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., which was held May 28-June 3, 2017; it was
11Cierra's first time on the national spelling bee stage; and
12 WHEREAS; two hundred ninety other students from across the nation and six other
13countries joined Cierra in the Scripps competition; in round two, she correctly spelled
14coscinomancy, which is a form of divination founded in ancient Greece that utilized a sieve
15and shears to determine the guilty party in a criminal offense or to find answers to questions;
16in round three, she spelled webisode; and
17 WHEREAS, in round one, a written vocabulary test was taken by all competitors;
18combined with scores from rounds two and three, the top forty performers would advance
19to the final rounds; Cierra's exceptional performance tied for forty-first place; and
20 WHEREAS, Cierra Wilson's participation in competitive spelling began in the
21second grade when she won second place in the East Baton Rouge Parish District Spelling
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HR NO. 7
1Bee; she also won fourth place in the Regional Spelling Bee when she was in the fourth
2grade and second place in the Regional Spelling Bee when she was a fifth grader; Cierra is
3a straight-A student, was named Student of the Year at her elementary school, and was a top-
4five finalist for Student of the Year for the East Baton Rouge Parish school district; and
5 WHEREAS, Cierra's passion for spelling is matched by her passion for people; she
6led a school supplies drive for needy children; assembled Christmas gift baskets for the
7elderly and disabled in nursing homes and group homes; Cierra Wilson has participated each
8year in St. Jude's Walk-A-Thon to raise money for children with cancer; and she participates
9in food drives to feed the homeless; and
10 WHEREAS, despite having lost almost everything she owned in the August 2016
11flood, including spelling bee preparation index cards she had accumulated, Cierra triumphed
12over the huge disruption to her life in 2016 to become the 2017 Louisiana Children's
13Discovery Center Regional Spelling Bee champion and represent the state at the Scripps
14National Spelling Bee, and it is fitting to congratulate Cierra Wilson on her orthographic
15achievements.
16 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
17Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend Cierra Wilson for winning the Louisiana
18Children's Discovery Center 2017 Regional Spelling Bee and representing the state at the
19Scripps National Spelling Bee and does hereby express best hopes and wishes for continued
20success in her future endeavors.
21 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
22to Cierra Wilson.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 7 Original 2017 Second Extraordinary Session Smith
Commends Cierra Wilson for winning first place in the La. Children's Discovery Center
2017 Regional Spelling Bee and for representing La. in the Scripps National Spelling Bee
in Washington, D.C.
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