After a spell without, Charlotte Central School revives spelling bee

Meredith Golek, Contributor
Photo by Genevieve Trono From left, fourth graders Eddie Moore, Anna Andriano and Matilda McCracken hung on until six spellers remained.
Photo by Genevieve Trono
From left, fourth graders Eddie Moore, Anna Andriano and Matilda McCracken hung on until six spellers remained.

On Friday, Feb. 24, Charlotte Central School participated in its first spelling bee since 2019. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the school hasn’t hosted a spelling competition for a few years.

Three volunteer judges from the community participated — Cheryl Sloan, Charlotte Library youth services librarian, and Janet and Mike Yantachka, proofreaders for The Charlotte News.

The spelling bee was single elimination and lasted close to 20 rounds, with two special rounds to determine a third-place winner and five rounds to determine first- and second-place winners. Out of the 18 contestants, eighth grader JP Novak was the winner. JP’s winning word was “preternaturally,” which he spelled correctly in the final round for the win.

Matilda McCracken finished in second place at Charlotte Central School’s revived spelling be and will be invited to the Vermont state spelling bee on March 13. 
Matilda McCracken finished in second place at Charlotte Central School’s revived spelling be and will be invited to the Vermont state spelling bee on March 13.

As for the second and third place finalists, fourth grader Matilda McCracken finished in second place by spelling “Sanskrit” and fifth grader Caprica Langlinais finished in third by spelling “Zimbabwe.”

(Meredith Golek is an eighth grader at Charlotte Central School.)