UNIONDALE, NEW YORK (FEBRUARY 2023)—After holding seven spelling bees across the five elementary schools and two middle schools, Uniondale Union Free School District recently had a District wide spelling bee competition, inviting the 23 winners from each school to participate. For some scholars, this may have been the first time hearing words like misericords, parathas, deign, mullioned and more. The competition was intense, as scholars used context clues by asking for a definition, the word origin and for words to be used in a sentence before offering their answers. In the end, one scholar was crowned the champion, and two were named the runner-ups.
“Congratulations to our talented young scholars for making it to the District-wide spelling bee,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Monique Darrisaw-Akil. “Each year, we encourage our scholars to participate in this program to test their spelling proficiency in a challenging and competitive environment. Spelling bees help scholars grow their vocabulary and develop confidence in their public speaking skills.”
Evan Mallory, a fifth grader at Northern Parkway Elementary School, was crowned the competition’s winner after successfully spelling “Sikhism” in the final round. Albert Aguilar Chinchilla of Northern Parkway, and Zyaa Cherenfant of Lawrence Road Middle School, were the two runner-ups. Evan and Zyaa had previously come in first in their school’s spelling bee competitions. Each competitor was gifted a certificate for making it to the District-wide competition, and Evan was awarded a trophy.
“I’m incredibly honored to celebrate the academic excellence displayed by each and every one of our competitors in this spelling bee,” said Director of English Language Arts Michelle Peterson-Davis. “To see a third grader make it to the final five shows the dedication our scholars have not just to this competition but to their education. These scholars are already winners, and I am blown away by their talent.”
With his win, Evan Mallory has been nominated by the District to participate in the National Scripps Spelling Bee.