Ten NSCSD students advance to Regional Spelling Bee

The top three winners in the North Syracuse Central School District Spelling Bee were: (from left to right) Hayden Totty, Isaac Butterfield and Matthew Conner.

On December 7, 2023, thirty students from Roxboro Road Middle School, Gillette Road Middle and North Syracuse Junior High School gathered at the North Syracuse Central School District Office to compete in a districtwide spelling bee.  The talented youth from grades five through eight were challenged with a variety of words ranging from simple spellings such as “manual” and “recital” to more difficult spellings such as “mischievous.” All students came to this competition after completing written and oral exams within their schools. The competition ended with the correct spelling of “categorically” and  “chasm” by Matthew Conner (5th grade) from Gillette Road Middle School. Finishing in second place was Hayden Totty (6th grade) from Gillette Road Middle School and in third was Isaac Butterfield (5th grade) from Gillette Road Middle School. The top four competitors from each school will now advance to a written spelling bee in February.

The students moving on to that competition are:

From Gillette Road Middle School: Matthew Conner, Hayden Totty, Isaac Butterfield and Abigail Rice

From Roxboro Road Middle School: Jaiden Carson, Liliana DeSalvo, Willow LaVergne and Samantha Laubengayer

From North Syracuse Junior High School: Jordan (Olivia) Walker

The following students participated in this year’s competition: Suhaib Alharbi (5th grade Roxboro Road Middle School), Sarah Bacon (6th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Abilene Baker (6th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Mi'naria Blunt (6th grade Roxboro Road Middle School), Lillian Bradstreet (5th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Isaac Butterfield (5th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Jaiden Carson (6th grade Roxboro Road Middle School), Annabelle Christiansen (7th grade Roxboro Road Middle School), Matthew Conner (5th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Ryan Cook (7th grade Roxboro Road Middle School), Jacob DeLaurier (7th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Liliana DeSalvo (7th grade Roxboro Road Middle School), Julia Duru (7th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Elijah Ehret (7th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Sarwar Hassan (6th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Brody Hughes (5th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Kelan Krause (6th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Samantha Laubengayer (6th grade Roxboro Road Middle School), Willow LaVergne (7th grade Roxboro Road Middle School), Paul Lucason Jr. (5th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Evelyn Lyons (5th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Mason Miller (7th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Christopher Reeve (7th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Abigail Rice (6th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Connor Swanson (7th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Vanessa Taylor (5th grade Gillette Road Middle School), Giavanna Teeter (6th grade Roxboro Road Middle School), Hayden Totty (6th grade Gillette Road Middle School) and Lily Anne Wilson (6th grade Gillette Road Middle School).