The Exchange Club of Yonkers recently held its 55th annual spelling bee with more than 75 fifth-graders from Yonkers elementary schools. The students were all seated on the stage at Saunders High School’s auditorium – excited and ready to compete
School Superintendent Dr. Edwin Quezada thanked the Exchange Club for sponsoring the popular event, and wished all of the contestants luck. Mayor Mike Spano, a 25-year member of the Exchange Club, joined in to wish all the contestants good luck and to congratulate them for having been chosen by their respective schools to take part in the spelling bee.
This year’s spelling bee lasted until 10:30 p.m., due to the intelligence of the last four finalists who continued to spell difficult words like mosquitoes and mayonnaise correctly. Eventually, the judges – including Exchange Club member and Westchester Assistant District Attorney Michael Ashraf – agreed to call a tie for third place.
This year’s winners are: Leandro Puello of School 23 took first place, Laraviktoria Cancio of Cross Hill Academy took second place, and Yaw Akwaa of R. Siragusa and Mia Guice of Pearls Hawthorne took third place.
Parents, friends, teachers and staff in the audience praised all of the student participants, and admitted that some of the words are ones they, themselves, would have misspelled.
The winners, joined by family and teachers, were honored at an annual luncheon at Luciano’s Restaurant. Michael Ashraf presented each winner with certificates of achievement and a monetary award.
Another annual Exchange Club event is Teacher of the Year, which will be held Sept. 20, honoring School 9 teacher Pat Schepis. More information will follow.
