Spelling Bee 2016

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Panel of Judges Ethna Lay, Head Judge; Associate Professor of Writing Studies and Composition and Associate Director of the Digital Research Center, Hofstra University Jeffrey S. Morosoff, Pronouncer; Assistant Professor of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations, Hofstra University Yvonne Stephens, Record Keeper; Assistant Professor of Writing Studies and Composition, Hofstra University Lisa M. Dresner, Ringer; Associate Professor of Writing Studies and Composition, Hofstra University Event Organizers Melissa Connolly Vice President for University Relations, Hofstra University Johanna Farrell Event Manager, Hofstra University Special thanks to: The Scripps Company Merriam-Webster Inc. Encyclopedia Britannica

Provost’s

Message

Welcome to Hofstra University for the fifth Hofstra Long Island Regional Scripps Spelling Bee. While one of you will earn the right to represent Long Island at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., this May, all of you should be proud of your participation here today. As a former local spelling bee winner (long, long ago when I was in the 6th grade), I know firsthand how impressive your achievement is.

You have all worked hard, studied long, and through friendly competition with your peers, won your school’s spelling bee. Before we spell one word today, you deserve our sincere congratulations on your achievement thus far. Winning a spelling bee requires poise, confidence, and the ability to perform under pressure. Participants learn about public presentation and how to operate in a competitive environment. Great spellers understand the origins of words and of language itself, how to puzzle through a problem word through meaning, inference and root, and through this, develop skills that will provide a great advantage as you prepare for the advanced work of high school and college.

Hofstra University is very proud to host Long Island’s regional bee. Through many academic partnerships, we bring Long Island’s best middle and high school students to our campus for events such as the Model United Nations, FIRST Robotics Competition, High School Dance Intensive and High School Press Day. We are pleased to have a strong partnership with our local schools.

Benjamin Disraeli said, “A University should be a place of light, of liberty, and of learning.”

Our mission is to educate as well as engage our students, not only in scholarly pursuits, but also in the world around us, by sharing our great campus and our resources with our neighbors. You bring light and learning to us today, and we are so pleased to welcome you to Hofstra.

While only one of you will go on to represent Long Island in Washington, D.C., you are all winners. I wish you luck in the bee and in your academic and co-curricular work. I am sure you will be successful in all you do.

Sincerely,

Dr. Gail M. Simmons Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Hofstra University | March 13, 2016

3

Regional Scripps

Participants

4

Abbey Lane School Alex Gao

Academy Street Elementary School Heidi Almskog

Accompsett Middle School Victoria O’Connor

Baldwin Middle School Justin Stuart

Bayview Avenue School Matthew Addo

Blue Point Elementary School Ava Duras

Burns Avenue School Tiffany Mayhew

Burr Intermediate School Max Mattera

California Avenue Elementary School Michael Redd

Charles E. Schwarting School Anthony Piliero

Clara H. Carlson School Ashna Balroop

Clarke Middle School Amaya Tallarita

Regional Scripps Spelling Bee

Archer Street School Babylon Junior-Senior High School Domenica Gianferrara Anna Romero

Bowling Green School Jack Hollywood

Brookside Elementary School Kwasi Bonsu

Carle Place Middle Caroline G. Atkinson Senior High School School Francesca Venezia Karina Rios

Clayton Huey Elementary School Luke McCluskey

Clearstream Avenue School Tolulope Diyaolu

Regional Scripps

Participants

Connolly School Noah Kopetic

Dayton Avenue School Kaitlyn Cotrel

East Northport Middle School Joseph Buchanan

Eastplain School Cody Kanyaro

Forest Road School Alysse Fazal

Gardiners Avenue School A.J. Hagenbruch

Gotham Avenue School Justin Hernandez

Grand Avenue Elementary School Elijah Golding

Grand Avenue Middle School Joshua Levy

Great Hollow Middle School Jack VanDeusen

Great Neck North Middle School Adam Sanders

H. B. Thompson Middle School Rika Mizoguchi

Haftr Middle School Eitan Markovitz

Hanc Plainview Elementary School Adina Lippman

Dutch Lane School Siddh Agarwal

East Broadway School Valerie Bonavita

East Islip Middle School Toniann Santamaria

Eastport Elementary Fairfield Elementary Floral Park Memorial School High School School Joseph Belfiore Benjamin Pickman Robby Levy

Hofstra University | March 13, 2016

5

Regional Scripps

Participants

6

Hebrew Academy of Long Beach Michael Mintz

Hebrew Academy of Nassau County Middle School Rena Max

Henry L. Stimson Middle School Jack O’Loughlin

Herricks Middle School Rachel Won

Hewlett Elementary School Matthew Pernia

Hicksville Middle School Rafay Ejaz

Howard T. Herber Middle School JonLuc Thompson

Howell Road School Rana Igra

Island Trees Middle School Sheryl Lin

Ivy League School Zainab Waheed

James A. Dever School Ashrita Seelan

James Wilson Young Middle School Patrick Larkin

Jericho Middle School Brian Weinberger

John H. West School Zane Uddin

Jonas E. Salk Middle School Shannon O’Leary

Kellenberg Memorial High School Victor Louie

Landing School Valerie Acosta

Lawrence Middle School Thomas Vairo

Lawrence Road Middle School Valencia Hopkins

Lee Avenue School Anna Jacob

Regional Scripps Spelling Bee

Regional Scripps

Participants

Lee Road School Janine Ren

Lenox Elementary School Brandon Surpris

Leo F. Giblyn School Naidalis Welch

Long Island Lutheran Middle & High School Anika Varma

Long Island School for the Gifted Lilly Chai

Marion G. Vedder Elementary School Rayan Afzal

Meadow Elementary School Aaron Ashby

Meadowbrook Elementary School Gurdev Bhurji

Merrick Avenue Middle School Katherine St. George

Mount Sinai Middle School Aaron Angress

Nesaquake Middle School Matthew Zodda

New Visions Elementary School Naomi Belgrave

Lloyd Harbor School Olivia Pellizzi

Locust Valley Middle School Michelle Hsu

McKenna Elementary McVey Elementary School School Varada Konappanavar Hayley Tan

Mount Pleasant Elementary School Eman Chattha

Northern Parkway Elementary School Brandon Neilan

Mount Sinai Elementary School Joseph Sirico

Northside School Daniel Collins

Hofstra University | March 13, 2016

7

Regional Scripps

Participants

8

Oceanside Middle School Elana Pocress

Ogden Elementary School Habib Iftikhar

Old Country Road School Patrick LaBarca

Oldfield Middle School Zoe Krief

Our Lady of the Hamptons Regional Catholic School Julia Fritsch

Park Avenue School Shameer Rose

Paul J. Gelinas Junior High School Emily Bussa

PlainviewOld Bethpage Middle School Emma Kimmel

Plaza Elementary School Alisa Reid

Port Jefferson Elementary School Sophie Blumenthal

RC Murphy JHS Jonathan Huang

RemsenburgSpeonk Elementary School Daniel Gosnell

R.J.O. Intermediate School Emma Mineo

Robert M. Finley Middle School Steven Bailey

School 2 Rebekah Anderson

School 3 Robyn Lehrer

School 4 Declan Kates

School 5 Vincent Gardner

School 8 Benjamin Samuel

School 9e Boardman Elementary School Brenna Haufler

Regional Scripps Spelling Bee

Regional Scripps

Participants

Seaford Middle School Marco Botti

Selden Middle School Nicole Renelle

Setauket Elementary School Ryan Himmelsbach

Shaw Avenue School Danyelle Robe

Smith Street Elementary School Tyler Legitime

South Side Middle School Caroline Cameron

South Woods Middle School Elizabeth Chang

Southampton Intermediate School Logan Whitall

St. Christopher Elementary School Chazz J. Jean

St. Pius V School Sean Skelly

Steele Elementary School Jillian Cooke

Summit Lane School Justin Ramsaroop

The Brandeis School Carolyn Neugarten

The Greenvale School Marcus Meshechok

The Laurel Hill School Nathan Barry

Thomas J. Lahey Elementary School Maxmillian Stratton

Turtle Hook Middle School Carl Melgar

Unqua Elementary School Anna Izquierdo

Walnut Street Elementary School Kaleb Barker

Wantagh Middle School Jenna Miller

Hofstra University | March 13, 2016

9

Regional Scripps

Participants

10

Watson School Daniel Schieck

West Side School Jonathan Brown

Wheeler Avenue School John Youssef

Willets Road School Krittika Prajapati

William E. Deluca Junior Elementary School Timothy Pescatore

William Floyd Middle School Ian Hua

William Rall School Damiano Drucker

William Sidney Mount School Daphna Fineberg

Willow Road School Hayley Cirri

Wisdom Lane Middle School Sarah Masroor

Woodland Middle School Amber Dacanay

Woodmere Middle School Sofia Pesantez

Regional Scripps Spelling Bee

Rules

for Local Spelling Bees

Hofstra University | March 13, 2016

11

Rules

for Local Spelling Bees

12

Regional Scripps Spelling Bee

Rules

for Local Spelling Bees

Hofstra University | March 13, 2016

13

Rules

for Local Spelling Bees

14

Regional Scripps Spelling Bee

Rules

for Local Spelling Bees

Hofstra University | March 13, 2016

15

Fun Facts About

Hofstra University

Founded in 1935 Located in Hempstead, Long Island, 25 miles east of NYC President: Stuart Rabinowitz, JD Provost: Dr. Gail M. Simmons Private, nonsectarian, coeducational 113 buildings on 240 acres

Hofstra has a vibrant campus with hundreds of social, academic and cultural events per year.

The Hofstra University Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The Museum, with a collection of more than 5,000 works of art from the world’s diverse cultures, offers 4-6 original exhibitions annually, and also oversees an extensive collection of outdoor sculptures featuring approximately 70 works of art.

Member of Phi Beta Kappa

The Hofstra libraries contain over 1 million volumes and provide 24/7 online access to more than 75,000 full-text journals and 160,000 electronic books.

100% program accessibility for persons with disabilities

17 varsity sports

24 academic and 27 total accreditations

Colleges and Schools • Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences • Hofstra University Honors College • Frank G. Zarb School of Business • Lawrence Herbert School of Communication

• 8 for men: baseball, basketball, cross-country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis and wrestling • 9 for women: basketball, cross-country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball • All sports compete at the NCAA Division I level in the Colonial Athletic Association.

• School of Education

Other facts:

• School of Engineering and Applied Science

Hofstra is one of only a few schools in the United States to host two presidential debates: one in 2008 and one in 2012.

• School of Health Professions and Human Services • Maurice A. Deane School of Law • Hofstra Northwell School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies • Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine • Hofstra University Continuing Education Total Fall 2015 Enrollment: 10,870 • 6,833 Undergraduate • 2,951 Graduate • 733 Law • 353 Medicine Fall 2015 Entering Freshmen • 27% were in top 10% of High School Class • 63% were in top 25% of High School Class • 49% were from Out-of-State Campus Life 35 residence halls housing about 3,600 students, 18 eateries, six theaters, and about 200 student clubs of which there are about 28 local/national fraternities and sororities.

Hofstra’s strength in presidential studies also includes the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency and a renowned series of academic conferences analyzing the achievements of modern presidents.

With Long Island as its setting and “laboratory,” Hofstra is one of the first universities in the nation to study the issues of suburbia through the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University®.

The Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine uses an innovative and heralded approach to medical education. One example is that first-year students become emergency medical technicians and learn about the delivery of health care and the patient from the beginning of their medical education.

Hofstra was one of the first private universities in the country to achieve 100 percent program accessibility for individuals with disabilities.

WRHU-88.7 FM is the No.1 college radio station in the nation according to The Princeton Review and won the Marconi Award.

The Frank G. Zarb School of Business hosts one of the nation’s largest simulated financial facilities, the Martin B. Greenberg Trading Room, equipped with 34 dual panel Bloomberg terminals and a vast array of financial and economic media and data.

65693:3/16