THE WORD IS 'OPPORTUNITY' SPELLING BEE HELPING KIDS BOUND BY DISADVANTAGES.

Byline: Rachel Uranga Staff Writer

PANORAMA CITY - Crammed between shoe and fashion stores, a cheering crowd of youngsters and their parents abolished - as in A-B-O-L-I-S-H-E-D - all of Andres Langirica's nervousness as he took first place in the Los Angeles Housing Authority's Spelling Bee at the Panorama City Mall on Saturday.

Started a decade ago as a way to improve children's reading and comprehension skills, the bee attracted competition from more than 500 children in 15 of the city's public housing facilities, including San Fernando Gardens and Nickerson Gardens in Watts.

Only the top spellers in three different categories, ranging from second to ninth grade, competed Saturday - about 45 in all.

``I was nervous,'' said Langirica, who won the fifth and sixth grade competition with the word ``abolish.''

``I was thinking, I am going to win first place for my mother,'' said the fifth grader, who lives with his family in San Fernando Gardens.

He studied hours a day for nearly a month for this moment. After winning, he leaned up against his mother, holding the nearly 3-foot-tall trophy, while his father, also named Andres, beamed.

His mother is attending Pacoima Skills Center, hoping to obtain her GED. Andres Langirica Sr. grew up in Jalisco, Mexico, and never went beyond the fifth grade.

Like many of the 28,000 living in public housing, the couple has poor English skills and has not finished high school. The average family of four living in the city's public housing earns $14,000.

Mary Barrientos, a former housing authority commissioner, said she started the bee out of frustration.

``When we started, there were a lot of programs (in the public housing facilities) that were geared to boys; there was a lot of physical activity,'' she said, as she sat attentively on a metal foldout chair in the audience.

``The ball is not the way out; the mental is. So we just said, 'We've got to do this.'''

The elder Langirica, who said he lacked opportunities in Mexico, agrees. ``I want to give him all that he needs,'' he said.

First-place winners took home Gateway computers, each complete with a printer and lessons for the whole family.

Consuelo Telfair, coordinator of the spelling bee, which originated in San Fernando with a handful of children, said the work boosted the children's confidence.

``We wanted something positive,'' Telfair said. ``The projects are always the rough areas, with more crime. This shows the kids are the same or better than the kids in the rest of the city.''

Sergio Padilla, a 14-year-old San Fernando High School student and aspiring actor, said the competition rid him of stage fright.

``It gives me the chance to express myself, to take out fear and not be shy,'' Padilla said. ``I have got to confront all my obstacles.''

Besides, he said, ``These students make our community better. All the others see is gangsters, so I come to compete.''

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Jafet Rosales, left, of Ramona Gardens took first place, and Tatiana Quintanilla of Mar Vista was second in the first- and second-grade division of the L.A. Housing Authority Spelling Bee.

Joel P. Lugavere/Special to the Daily News