The Fifth Annual Rye Free Reading Room Spelling Bee
Every year, The Rye Free Reading Room invites Rye middle and high school students to come to the Library on Veteran’s Day to test their spelling skills. On November 11, 2022, Director Chris Shoemaker, joined by Library Board of Trustee President Kathleen Riegelhaupt, introduced the fifteen participants and thanked the judges/word readers Mayor Josh Cohn and Rye patron Jacqueline Mecca for coming.
After fourteen rounds, 6th grader Emma Crozier emerged as the middle-school winner by correctly spelling the word “fanfare”. Other finalists fell to misspellings of “radon” (the chemical element) and “hoedown”.
It took thirteen rounds for high-school winner, 9th grader Ryan Crozier to claim his title by spelling “saxhorn”, while his competitors were foiled by “mullion” and “bassoon.”
This year it was a family affair. Both winners hailed from the same family and parents Jen and David Crozier were on hand to cheer them on.
Emma and Ryan’s names will be inscribed on the permanent Spelling Bee trophy that is displayed in the main reading room at the Library. They will each be awarded a trophy and scholarship prize at the Library’s annual meeting February 2023.
The $2,500 middle-school and $500 high-school scholarship prizes are sponsored by Carpet Trends and in honor of Emanuela Riccio, respectively,
For more information, go to www.ryelibrary.org.
