SCHOOLS

Honoring the best of the middle schools’ bees

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East Meadow’s middle schools recently crowned champions in various academic competitions.

Both Woodland and W.T. Clarke middle schools hosted spelling bees and the National Geographic Bee this winter, district officials said. Students happily participated in both contests, designed to test their knowledge of English language arts and geography, respectively.

W. T. Clarke Middle School seventh-grader Amaya Tallarita and Woodland Middle School sixth-grader Amber Dacanay won their school’s respective spelling bee. After 13 rounds of competition, Tallarita placed first by correctly spelling ultraviolet; Dacanay claimed victory by spelling pneumonia.

Both students will compete in the regional spelling bee at Hofstra University in March, district leaders said. They also recently celebrated Woodland eighth-grader Michael Pincus and Clarke seventh-grader Nick Spano, who are their respective school’s geography bee champions.

The 28th annual National Geographic Bee is open to fourth through eighth grade students from around the county. In order for Pincus and Spano to advance in the competition, they must complete the online qualifying test and score among the top 100 participants.

If they qualify, Pincus and Spano will be eligible to compete in the New York State Bee on April 1. State winners then compete in the national championship, which will be held from May 22 through 25.

The National Geographic Bee champion will receive a $50,000 college scholarship, lifetime subscription to National Geographic magazine, trip to the Galápagos Islands and $500 cash prize for winning the competition. Administrators said they wish Pincus and Spano the best of luck in the competition.