Students put their skills to the test at district-wide spelling bee

On Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, 29 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 district-wide spelling bee. The group was welcomed by NSCSD Director of English Language Arts (ELA) Dr. Amanda Viel.  The talented youth from grades five through eight were challenged with a variety of words ranging from simple spellings such as “window” and “ration” to more difficult spellings such as “albatross” and “dexterity.” All students came to this competition after completing written and oral exams within their schools. This year’s competition came down to a 4-round showdown between contestant #7 Isaac Butterfield and contestant #19 Rosa Heath, both from Gillette Road Middle School. The pair matched each other word for word, correctly spelling words such as “plaid,” “zeal,” “depots” and “salvaged.”

Ultimately, the winning word, “dignitaries,” was correctly spelled by Isaac Butterfield, who then secured his victory with the correct spelling of “dismissal.” Gillette Road Middle School 7th grader Rosa Heath earned second place honors while Keegan Mau (Gillette Road Middle School 5th grader) and Paul Lucason (Gillette Road Middle School 7th grader) tied for third place.

The top four competitors from each school will advance to an online spelling bee in February. 

The following students participated in this year’s competition: 
Jianna Abar (5th grade RRMS), Abilene (Abby) Baker (8th grade NSJH), Vanessa Baker (7th grade GRMS), Avarie Brocious (7th grade RRMS), Liam Butler (6th grade GRMS), Isaac Butterfield (7th grade GRMS), Alaina Fox (7th grade RRMS), Rosa Heath (7th grade GRMS), Michael Jacobs (5th grade GRMS), Honesty Johnson (7th grade GRMS), Ella Kittle (6th grade RRMS), Emma Kohler (6th grade GRMS), Jackson Kuss (6th grade RRMS), Paul Lucason (7th grade GRMS), Tue Man Luu (5th grade RRMS), Yalda Malekizade (8th grade NSJH), Keegan Mau (5th grade GRMS), Camaron Morrissey (5th grade RRMS), Alesana Motell (6th grade RRMS), Brianna Purdy-Jantzi (5th grade RRMS), Alex Reitano (7th grade GRMS), Brooklyn Sanchez (7th grade RRMS), Zander Schafer (5th grade GRMS), Abigail Smith (5th grade RRMS), Connor Sweeney (6th grade RRMS), Vanessa Taylor (7th grade GRMS), Grace Thibault (6th grade GRMS), Catalina Velez (5th grade RRMS) and Jackson Wilhite (5th grade GRMS).
Many thanks to Bill Bradley, who served as this year’s pronouncer; to the students’ bee coaches, Morgan Bullock, Olivia Colton, and Kelly Forsyth; and to this year’s spelling bee judges, Patricia Budge, Rosemary Farfaglia, Carol Goehner, and Carolyn Gross.