The Daily Star's 2021 Spelling Bee Champions' Tab

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A publication of The Daily Star Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Punya Phaugat, from Cooperstown Central School reacts as she wins The Daily Star Scripps National Regional Spelling Bee at SUNY Oneonta on Saturday, March 7, 2020.

JULIE LEWIS | THE DAILY STAR

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For the past 19 years, the Spelling Bee program has continued to foster language arts enrichment education for more than 35 schools in The Daily Star readership region. The school champions compete for the regional title and to earn an opportunity to advance to the National Scripps Spelling Bee competition.

THE BEE’S PURPOSE “Our purpose is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives.”

– The E. W. Scripps Company

To learn more about the spelling bee competition, please visit https://www.dcmoboces.com/SPELLINGBEEPROGRAM.aspx 2

MARCH 24, 2021

Coop seventh grader won 2020 spelling bee ONEONTA — Cooperstown seventh grader Punya Phaugat was named champion of The Daily Star’s 18th annual regional spelling bee Saturday, March 7, 2020.

Students from 18 component districts of Otsego-Northern Catskills and Delaware-Chenango-MadisonOtsego BOCES took the stage in SUNY Oneonta’s Goodrich Theater, spelling dozens of words until Punya was named champion after correctly spelling “turnstile.”

First-runner up was Stamford Central School eighth-grader Jack Glenn, who kept pace with Punya for several rounds after everyone else was eliminated before misspelling “irradiate.”

Three-time former regional champion Melodia Loya of Bainbridge returned to the stage as a guest competitor in the celebrity competition, winning with the correct spelling of the word “dacquoise,” a French dessert cake.

Loya delivered her final performance at the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee, making it to the seventh round before misspelling “theileriasis.”

Cheering Punya on were her parents, Yogesh and Kusum, and her seven-year-old brother, Vedant.

Punya, who’s competed in spelling competitions since fifth grade, said she studied with her father for an hour and a half on weekdays and three hours on weekends.

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perstown Superintendent Bill Crankshaw said of Punya’s victory. “We’ll certainly find a way to celebrate her accomplishment.”

“She’s very dedicated to her academics,” he continued. “We take such pride in her ability to spell. It’s her passion.”

Punya’s said her favorite subject in school is math, and when she’s not studying her spelling, she enjoys swimming freestyle on the Cooperstown swim team.

Due to the cancellation of the 2020 National Spelling Bee Competition, Punja did not get an opportunity to compete in Washington for the national championship. Punja is planning to compete again at the 2021 Regional Spelling Bee Competition to be held virtually on Friday, March 26.

The winner of the 2021 spelling bee will advance to the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida, this summer. The Daily Star will follow their progress throughout the competition, and, along with other local sponsors, will cover the roundtrip transportation and overnight costs for the champion and an adult chaperone to attend.

Sarah Eames, staff writer, can be reached at seames@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7213. Follow her @DS_SarahE on Twitter.

C H A M P THE DAILY STAR SPELLING BEE

Spelling Bee History Nine newspapers collaborated to start the National Spelling Bee in 1925. In 1941, Scripps took over sponsorship of the National Spelling Bee. There was no Scripps National Spelling Bee during the war years of 1943-45. Co-champions were declared in 1950, 1957, 1962, 2014, 2015, and again in 2016 and 2017. The Daily Star sponsorship began in 2002 allowing schools in the newspaper’s readership region to compete at all levels.

The Daily Star supports with its contributions, the registration fee for all schools in the ONC and DCMO BOCES region to compete at the regional level, and for the champion to compete at the national level. DCMO BOCES coordinates the Spelling Bee Program that serves 42 public schools and multiple home schools.

Competition Rules for Virtual Event The rules for The Daily Star Regional Spelling Bee were released to parents and school staff. The virtual event nature requires the support of the school staff to identify a mentor to monitor the communications at the student’s site. The Regional Spelling Bee will follow all the rules mandated for this event. They hold the final decision at all times.

Non Discrimination Disclaimer The Spelling Bee Program organizer, the Delaware, Chenango, Madison, Otsego BOCES, does not discriminate on the basis of an individual’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, religious practice, national origin, ethnic group, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, political affiliation, age, marital status, military status, veteran status, disability, weight, predisposing generic characteristic, domestic violence victim status, or any other basis prohibited by New York state and/or federal non-discrimination laws in its programs and activities, and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups.

2021 Regional Spelling Bee

Friday, March 26, 2021 10:00 AM Watch it live at dcmoboces.com and click on the link!

Behind the Scenes We celebrate the long term commitment from our panel of judges and pronouncers. Their volunteer support and their passion for words bring value to the Regional Spelling Bee competition. The following are our judges: Mrs. Julia P. Suarez Hayes Retired Professor of English, Hartwick College Dr. Paul French Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy, SUNY Oneonta Mrs. Mary Dugan Speech Pathologist & Spelling Bee Coach

2021 National Spelling Bee Competition Update The 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee finals will take place on Thursday, July 8, at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida and will be broadcast in primetime on ESPN2.

The 10 to 12 finalists who will travel to Orlando will have earned the right to compete in the finals by advancing through three levels of competition: the preliminary, quarterfinal and semifinal segments. In past years, those three rounds were held over one week – Bee Week. This year, due to the global pandemic, the preliminaries, quarterfinals and semifinals will be held virtually in the weeks leading up to the July 8 finals and will be broadcast live on ESPN platforms. The semifinals are slated for June 27, and dates for the earlier virtual rounds of the competition will be announced this spring.

The final rounds of this year’s Bee will be hosted in person at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort. The finals, featuring 10-12 accomplished spellers, will be broadcast live in primetime on ESPN2.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is run on a not-for-profit basis by The E. W. Scripps Company and is held at a hotel or convention center during the week following Memorial Day weekend.

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Afton Central School

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Coleen Pettingill

Coleen Pettingill is an 8th grade student at Afton Junior High School. This is her first time competing at the Regional Spelling Bee. Her winning word was s-n-o-u-t. We thank her spelling bee coordinator Ms. Courtney Fitzgerald for organizing the school competition. Congratulations to Coleen!

8th Grade WINNING WORD:

snout

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Cooperstown Central School

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Punya Phaugat

Punya Phaugat is an 8th grade student at Cooperstown Central School. Punya was the 2020 Regional Spelling Bee Champion and is returning to compete for the 2021 Regional Championship. Her winning word was b-e-d-l-a-m-i-t-e. We thank her school program coordinator Mrs. Chalya Pudlewski for her support of the Spelling Bee program. Good luck Punya!

8th Grade WINNING WORD:

bedlamite

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Delaware Academy Middle School

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Benjamin Hadley

Benjamin Hadley is a 6th grade student at Delaware Academy in Delhi.

He won his school competition by spelling correctly the word e-x-h-o-r-t-a-t-i-o-n.

This is Benjamin’s first appearance at the Regional Spelling Bee. We thank Mr. Steven Lange for his strong support of the spelling bee program. We wish Benjamin best of luck!

6th Grade WINNING WORD:

exhortation 6

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Edmeston Central School

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Camden Graham

Camden Graham is an 8th grade student attending Edmeston Central School District. He won the school spelling bee competition by correctly spelling the word d-a-n-g-e-r-o-u-s. We thank the spelling bee program coordinator, Ms. Liz Vetter, for her long term support of this enrichment education activity. Good luck Camden!

8th Grade WINNING WORD:

dangerous

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Norwich City Schools

Congratulations & Best of Luck!

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Delilah Spiegel

Delilah Spiegel is a 7th grade student attending Norwich Middle School. She won her spelling bee competition with the word h-i-n-d-m-o-s-t. We thank Mr. Sean Woods for his support of the spelling bee program. Wishing Delilah good luck at the Regional Competition!

7th Grade WINNING WORD:

hindmost 8

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Worcester Central School

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Hailey Zabelicky

Hailey Zabelicky is a 4th grade student from Worcester Middle School. She won the school competition by correctly spelling the word s-h-r-i-k-e. Hailey is our younger competitor at the Regional Spelling Bee. We thank Ms. Stephanie York for her many years of support to the spelling bee program. We wish Hailey good luck!

4th Grade WINNING WORD:

shrike

Congratulations to Hailey Zabelicky!

Best of luck at regional competition.

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Join our champions!

Special Recognition to:

School

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Afton Central School

Coleen Pettingill

snout

Cooperstown Central School

Punya Phaugat

bedlamite

Delaware Academy Middle School

Benjamin Hadley

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Edmeston Central School

Camden Graham

dangerous

Norwich City Schools

Delilah Spiegel

hindmost

Worcester Central School

Hailey Zabelicky

shrike

The Daily Star

For the financial commitment to make this competition possible

Local School District Spelling Bee Coordinators

For your time and energy. Your tireless efforts to provide students with enrichment educational opportunities

Judges and Pronouncers

The Daily Star Regional Spelling Bee Competition

FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 2021 10:00 AM Watch it live at

dcmoboces.com and click on the link!

Recognizing MERRIAM-WEBSTER Spelling Champion Award Sponsor

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For so many years of support, giving your valuable time and talents to this program

DCMO BOCES

For coordinating this program

School Champions

For your hard work and commitment to excellence. Congratulations to each of you on your accomplishments thus far and best wishes for the future.

We admire your courage and determination!

Parents, Teachers and School Administrators

For your time, support, and encouragement provided to students each and every day and for supporting our school teams

THE DAILY STAR SPELLING BEE

The first Female Champion…

Students have a total of two minutes to spell the word at the National Competition. During the last 30 seconds neither the judges nor the pronouncers can communicate with the speller.

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In 1926 Pauline Bell, who won by correctly spelling the color “cerise.”

On TV…

The Pronouncer…

The National Spelling Bee competition was first broadcasted live on NBC. But since 1994, ESPN has broadcasted the entire competition.

Dr. Jacques Baily has been the pronouncer for more than 15 years.

He won the National Spelling Bee Competition in 1980 at the age of 14 with the winning word “elucubrate.”

shine bright together

At NBT, we understand the importance and impact of supporting the organizations that in turn shape our communities.

By working together, our hope is that we all shine a little brighter.

The First Official Champion…

Be Nice…

A competitor can be disqualified for engaging in “unsportsmanlike conduct.”

With the word Gladiolus, Frank Neuhauser, an 11-year-old from Louisville, Kentucky, won the first National Spelling Bee against only eight competitors in 1925.

Member FDIC

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Good luck to all 2021 Regional Spelling Bee participants!

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