After a two-hour long “spell-off,” four Fayetteville-Manlius School District students will advance to the regional qualifying spelling bee.
David Park took first place in F-M’s 2024-25 Spelling Bee, correctly spelling the word “gravelly” to secure the win. Hazel Bazzano placed second with Nikhil Jasti and Hajra Syed rounding out the top four contestants in the competition.
Twenty-seven students from both Eagle Hill and Wellwood Middle Schools participated in the oral spelling bee. In order to qualify, students in grades 5 through 8 completed a 50 word written exam. Out of approximately 90 students who took the exam, the top-scoring students advanced to the spelling bee.
The four winning contestants will now advance to the Post-Standard/syracuse.com Regional Qualifying Spelling Bee. This is an online written contest for school finalists that will take place in January.
The top-scoring students from the written contest will participate in the Regional Oral Spelling Bee this coming spring at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
The winner of the Regional Oral Spelling Bee will qualify for the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Maryland, which will take place in May.
The National Spelling Bee was started in 1925 and the F-M district has been participating in the Regional Spelling Bee for nearly 35 years.
