at

Le Roy Central High

School Auditorium

February 29

Premier Sponsor of the

WNY Scripps Spelling Bee

2 0 2 0

Proudly presented by

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2 • February 2020 Spelling Bee

Connors and Ferris is spelling bee sponsor

By MALLORY DIEFENBACH ing and grammatical function in 2001, the firm focuses its The 93rd annual Scripps

mdiefenbach@batavianews.com
Contestants will step onto
the regional stage next week
at Le Roy High School, in
hopes of advancing to the
Scripps National Spelling Bee
in May.
The Batavia Daily News/
Livingston County News re-
gional competition will start
at 10 a.m. Feb. 29 in the au-
ditorium of the school, 9300
‘ The competition ...
helps our youth
understand that being
competitive comes in
many different forms
while emphasizing
the meaning of
sportsmanship and
of words,” said Greg Connors,
founding partner of Connors
& Ferris.
“Spelling competitions
allow our kids to excel at
reading and writing — which
is extremely beneficial to
encourage their curiosity as
they matriculate into their
higher education years,” he
said. “And, spelling compe-
titions can spark a love of
practice in workers’ compen-
sation, Social Security dis-
ability and personal injury.
The firm prides itself on its
dedication to client service
and responsiveness as well as
its commitment to our com-
munity.
National Spelling Bee is
scheduled May 24 to 29.
Past winners of the re-
gional bee are Emily Mike of
Mount Morris in 2019, and
Noah Clarke , a home-school
student from Bergen in 2018.

South Street Rd., Le Roy.
The event this year is spon-
sored by Connors & Ferris.
“The attorneys and staff at
Connors & Ferris are so proud
to support our community
and sponsor the Western
New York Scripps Spelling
Bee. This competition is so
important as it helps our
youth understand being
competitive comes in many
different forms while empha-
’
friendly rivalry.
GREG CONNORS
Founding partner
of Connors & Ferris
sizing the meaning of sports-
manship and friendly rivalry.
This provides them and our
greater community a deeper
understanding of the mean-
language that will serve our
youth throughout their entire
lives, and helps them gain
the confidence they need to
speak in public.”
Connors & Ferris is one of
Western New York’s leading
firms and one of the largest
law firms in the state focusing
on workers’ compensation
benefits for injured employ-
ees. Having served thousands
of clients since its founding

Aaron Hosek
The BCSD
wishes
you luck
in the
upcoming
Spelling Bee! Batavia City
School District
 Spelling Bee February 2020 • 3

Meet our spellers

Here is an introduction to nearly two BATAVIA MIDDLE CARL I. BERGERSON CHILDREN OF MARY
dozen school spelling bee champions SCHOOL MIDDLE SCHOOL HOME SCHOOL
who have registered for the Western Aaron Hosek Adam Burlison Thomas
New York Regional Spelling Bee. Sixth Grade Seventh Grade Pivarunas
The champions are listed by school, Aaron is a two- Hometown: Sixth Grade
with their grade, hometown and the time winner of Bat- Albion Hometown: Elma
winning word from their school bee. avia’s bee. Winning word: Winning word: corporal
The list includes students who had hymnal
been registered and submitted infor-
mation as of Feb. 11: CLARENCE
BEE-LIEVE MIDDLE SCHOOL
HOME SCHOOL CASEY MIDDLE SCHOOL Benedict Lyonga
ALEXANDER
ASSOCIATION Bennett Wagner Sixth Grade
MIDDLE SCHOOL-HIGH SCHOOL Eighth Grade
Katie Clark Hometown:
Carli Koch Hometown: Clarence
Sixth Grade Seventh Grade
East Amherst Winning word:
Hometown: Hometown:
Winning word: successor
Attica Bergen
radium
Winning word: Winning word: judoka
galleon CUBA-RUSHFORD
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Zachary Hopkins
CHARLES H. ROTH Sixth Grade
AVON MIDDLE SCHOOL BOLIVAR-RICHBURG
Abigail Schutz MIDDLE SCHOOL Hometown:
JUNIOR-SENIOR
Seventh Grade Dibyansi Panda Caneadea
HIGH SCHOOL Seventh Grade Winning word:
Hometown:
Karson Baker Hometown: multiplication
Geneseo
Sixth Grade Rochester
Winning word:
Hometown: Winning word:
Intriguing
Cuba helium
Winning word: Louisiana See SPELLERS T4

Did you know? National Spelling Bee has long history THOMAS C. FARRUGIA,
The Scripps National Spell-
ing Bee, which began in 1925,
ing, increase their vocabular-
ies, learn concepts and devel-
op correct English usage that
will help them all their lives. D.D.S.
is the nation’s largest and
longest-running educational
GENERAL & COSMETIC DENTISTRY
program. Including Tooth Whitening
Every year, students from How do you spell S-O-L-D?
all walks of life have the op- & Dental Implants
portunity to participate in Martha’s Majic sells homes! Families & New
the Scripps National Spell-
ing Bee. They progress from Martha Burns Patients Welcome
classroom to cafeteria, from C: 319.8517
auditorium to civic center, • Emergency Care •
just as millions of other stu- 81 Main Street
dents have done before them. Geneseo 219 Washington Ave., Batavia, NY 14020
The bee’s purpose is to help
students improve their spell-
LICENSED REAL ESTATE
SALESPERSON
234-3811
Real Estate Services
585-343-7028

Mount Morris Central School

wishes the best of luck to our Arcade & Attica Railroad
278 Main Street, Arcade, NY • 585-492-3100
Spelling Bee Champions,
Jayla Mowday & Holly Lin BUY 1 TICKET, GET 1 FREE
(Regular Excusions Only • Expires 8/31/20)

CONGRATULATIONS SEASON OPENER MAY 23RD, 2020

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Good Luck Spellers!
4 • February 2020 Spelling Bee

Spellers MOUNT MORRIS

MIDDLE/SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Holly Lin
THE PARK SCHOOL OF BUFFALO
Caleb Johnson
Eighth Grade
From T3 Seventh Grade Hometown: Tonawanda
Hometown: Mount Morris Winning word: accelerates
FILLMORE CENTRAL SCHOOL Winning word: obstacle
Sawyer Pomeroy
Eighth Grade TRANSIT MIDDLE SCHOOL
Hometown: Fillmore NICHOLS SCHOOL Shaurya Chutke
Winning word: Connor Harshany Sixth Grade
beatboxing Sixth Grade Hometown:
Hometown: Lancaster East Amherst
Winning word: Winning word: transit
HEIM MIDDLE SCHOOL baragraph
Ishanni Joshi
Seventh Grade ST. JOSEPH WARSAW
Hometown: Amherst MIDDLE/SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Winning word: soberly Brenna Ackerman-Gay
Sara Nickerson
Sixth Grade Seventh Grade
Hometown: Elba Hometown: Warsaw
Winning word: greedy Winning word: archives
LIVONIA MIDDLE SCHOOL
Laura Wood
Sixth Grade
Hometown: Conesus
STANLEY G. FALK SCHOOL
Chloe Milligan Good Luck!
Seventh Grade
Winning word: teak
Hometown: Lakestreet Florist
Cheektowaga
Winning word: audience
& Gift Shoppe
110 Lake St., LeRoy, NY
MILL MIDDLE SCHOOL
Sascha Kudrytski
SWEET HOME 768-7720
MIDDLE SCHOOL www.lakestreetflorist.com
Eighth Grade
Hometown: Williamsville Haley Starr
Teleflora Wire Service for
Winning word: Seventh Grade
Family & Friends Out of Town
discrepancy Hometown: Amherst
Winning word: aquafer

MOUNT MORRIS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Jayla Mowday
Sixth Grade TEACH
Hometown: Caleb Tait
Mount Morris Seventh Grade
Winning word: Hometown: to our very own
dispute East Amherst
Winning word: minute

Sara
Did you know?:
The first bee
Nickerson
The first national spelling
bee took place in 1925 and had
nine students compete.
Now, some 11 million stu-
dents compete in spelling
“Blink of An Eye Photography
bees with the hope of reaching by Barbara”
the national contest.
Local bee sponsors have
paved the way for students to You will bee
3080 West Main Rd. Batavia
advance to the National Fi- 343-0300 • 762-6080 terrific!
nals. www.1stchoicetravel.com
For more information about 2 Summit Street, Batavia NY
the Scripps National Spelling 1-800-325-3450 (585) 343-6154 • www.sjsbatavia.org
Call For Details
Bee, go to spellingbee.com.

Wyatt Dziedzic of Le Roy is shown spelling during the 2019 Scripps Western New York Regional
Spelling Bee. Wyatt once again won Le Roy’s local bee and is set to compete for a second straight
year at the regional bee, which this year will take place in Le Roy.
The road to the bee
STELLAR SPELLERS: Season veterans and newcomers vie for national spot
From Staff Reports
The competition will surely
be tough, but Le Roy’s Wyatt
Dziedzic will be in comfortable
surroundings for the 2020 West-
ern New York Regional Spelling
Bee.
Wyatt is an eighth-grade stu-
dent at Le Roy and a two-time
winner of his district’s annual
spelling bee.
This year’s regional bee is
Feb. 29 in the auditorium at Le
Roy Junior-Senior High School,
9300 South Street Rd., Le Roy.
Wyatt is among more than
two students from sixth through
eighth grades in public and pri-
vate schools and home-school
programs stretching from
Rochester to Buffalo. They all
come have won their local bees
and all dream of winning the re-
gional bee, which qualifies the
winner for the Scripps National
Spelling Bee in Washington,
D.C., in May.
Here’s a quick look at how
some of the winners of the local
four-county GLOW region of
Genesee, Livingston, Orleans
and Wyoming counties made it
to the regional bee.
Le Roy
Wyatt won Le Roy’s in-school
spelling bee in December, out-
lasting about 20 students who
were competing.
Wyatt spelled “porcupine”
correctly in the fifth round to
win the bee. It was his second
consecutive win.
“He won it last year as a
seventh-grader and he came
back this year and won it as an
Spelling Bee
St. Joseph Regional School in Batavia had its Middle School
Spelling Bee on Jan. 17. Pictured are, from left, Maria Prattico,
second-place winner; Sara Nickerson, first-place winner; and
Sarah Lumberg, third-place winner.
MARK GUTMAN/DAILY NEWS FILE PHOTO
eighth-grader,” Principal Tim
McArdle said of Wyatt. “Last
year he had to spell ‘caterpillar’
and this year it was ‘porcu-
pine.’ There were probably six
kids that made it into the fifth
round and he was the only one
who correctly spelled the word
right.”
The eighth-grader said there
weren’t too many difficult
words during Friday’s bee.
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(585) 343-9598
Hours: Tues.-Fri. 9-6, Sat: 9-4;
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February 2020 • 5
PROVIDED PHOTOGRAPH
UNHEALTHY ABSCESSION
Most people are surprised to learn that the oral cavity typically
contains over 70 different types of bacteria, some of which are
harmless. Others, however, can contribute to dental decay and
periodontal (gum) disease. When a “dental abscess” occurs, the
buildup of pus that forms inside the teeth or gums is usually the result
of a bacterial infection. In cases where tooth decay creates openings
in the tooth that can lead all the way to the softer layer of tissue under
the enamel called “dentine,” bacteria penetrate the soft inner pulp of
the tooth, which becomes infected. Otherwise, bacterial buildup in the
periodontal pocket surrounding teeth may lead to a “periodontal (gum)
abscess.” Severe pain usually needs immediate treatment.
At BATAVIA FAMILY DENTAL, we are all about the details. When
you visit our office, we know that your dental health depends on
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in the care they receive. You’re sure to find that and more here at 6
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585.343.4246. We accept most insurances.
P.S. An abscess of the soft pulp of the tooth is treated with a root
canal, while periodontal abscesses are drained and the periodontal
pocket cleaned.
6 • February 2020
2019 regional winner Emily Mike embraced
experiences at Scripps National Spelling Bee
By Matt Leader
matt@livingstonnews.com
Emily Mike of Mount Morris,
winner of the 2019 Western New
York Regional Spelling bee, did
the rest region proud by spelling
her way to a 51st place finish in
the Scripps National Spelling
Bee in Washington, D.C., last
May.
Mike, now a freshman at
Mount Morris Central School,
booked her ticket to D.C. after
winning the Western New York
Regional Spelling Bee, outlast-
ing more than 30 other school
district champion spellers at
Batavia High School in March.
“It’s just such a dream,” said
Emily, shortly after correctly
spelling her final word, “corro-
sion.” “I don’t even know what
to say.”
The teen made the trip to
D.C. in May 2019 with her sis-
ter, Chloe, and parents, Joel
and Erica. Emily was one of 562
competitors at the national bee,
which took place at the Gaylord
National Resort and Conven-
tion Center in National Harbor,
Md., near Washington, D.C.
Emily made it through three
rounds at the National Bee –
correctly spelling “cuisinier”
and “bloodcurdling” in the pro-
cess. She failed to progress to the
fourth round based on her score
on the written spelling test par-
ticipants took in the first round.
“I never heard the bell for
me,” she said, referencing the
ding that competitors hear
when they’ve spelled a word
incorrectly. “That was the goal,
Bourbon & Burger Co.
Congrats to
Spelling Bee Participants
9 Jackson St., Batavia
Mon.-Sat. 11am-2am,
Spelling Bee
to not get out by the bell, so that
was good.”
The 2019 Bee featured one of
the 92-year-old events strongest
field and, for the first time, end-
ed in an eight-way tie after the
final batch of spellers, dubbed
the “Octochamps,” rattled off 47
straight correct words, exhaust-
ing the list of challenging words
prepared by competition orga-
nizers.
The unprecedented, eight-
way tie has since prompted
rule changes, with Bee officials
pledging to cut down on the
number of spellers admitted to
the culminating competition.
While she acknowledges she
was a little disappointed not to
make the finals, Emily still re-
calls “Bee Week” as one of the
best of her life. MARK BOWEN/SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE
She said the scariest experi- Emily Mike of Mount Morris reacts after successfully spelling “bloodcurdling” in round 3 of the
ence was not standing center Scripps National Spelling Bee last May.
stage under the bright lights at
the Scripps National Spelling Among those unexpected ex-
Bee. It was riding The Capital periences were making a close-
Wheel, a Ferris wheel at Nation- knit group of friends, who Emily
al Harbor, Md., that takes riders continues to interact with via Good Luck
Wyatt
180 feet into the air above the a group text, meeting Jacques
Potomac River waterfront. Bailly, the Bee’s longtime pro-
“That’s more scarier than be- nouncer, and running into Newt
ing on stage,” she said. Gingrich, the former Speaker of
Heights are not Emily’s thing. the House of Representatives, in
Everything else, however, was the TSA line on her way home.
overwhelming positive. Emily has aged out of the
“There were the experiences regional bee, but has helped
that I expected to be great, like Mount Morris in its own bee and
the opening and ending parties is looking forward to helping the
and actually spelling,” said Em- winners in any way she can.
ily, who still gets recognized as “I will definitely be at the Re-
a Bee participant. “There were gional Bee to cheer them on and
also the experiences that I didn’t offer the winner some insight on
expect.” the National Bee,” she said.
Best of Luck Spelling Bee Participants!
(585) 219-4242
Closed Sundays
And Welcome V-I-S-I-T-O-R-S!
8276 Park Rd., Batavia NY 14020 • (585) 343-7440 • www.GeneseeNY.com • www.VisitGeneseeNY.com

Road
From T5
“There were a couple that
were a bit harder than the oth-
ers, but they weren’t too bad,”
he said.
In his final round, Wyatt said
he had trouble with “porcu-
pine” for a minute, than realized
it was pretty easy to spell. He
wrote the word out, which he
said he sometimes does at a
help.
Kevin Cottone the runner-up
in Le Roy’s bee.
Avon
Seventh grade student Abi-
gail Schutz emerged as the Avon
Central School Spelling Bee
champion at a contest that took
place Feb. 5 in the district audi-
torium. The winning word that
secured Abigail the first prize
was “intriguing.”
“Abigail is a very strong,
motivated student who works
hard at everything she does
from homework, to soccer, to
Academic Challenge Bowl, to
the Spelling Bee,” said Kathryn
Muratore, Avon Middle School
English language arts teacher.
“Abigail studies and puts her
whole heart into what she does.
She studied like crazy for the
spelling bee and deserves to go
on to the next round. I am sure
she will do great there.”
St. Joseph School
St. Joseph Regional School in
Batavia had its Middle School
Spelling Bee on Jan. 17. First-
place speller Sara Nickerson, a
sixth-grade student, advanced
to the next round with the
victory. Runners-up were sev-
enth-grade student Maria Prat-
tico in second place, and sixth-
grade student Sarah Lumber in
third place.
Livonia
It was a battle of words where
the enemy was the dictionary,
and at the end, Laura Wood
came out on top at Livonia Mid-
dle School.
Laura, a sixth-grade student,
was a newcomer to the school’s
spelling bee, which took place
Jan. 16.
Laura took first place with the
winning word “teak.” For the
second year in a row, Livonia’s
runner-up was seventh-grader
Kallen Miller. Coming in third
PROVIDED PHOTOGRAPH
Laura Wood of Livonia won her
school’s spelling bee for the
first time.
was eighth-grader Izaya Tank-
sley.
There were eight contestants
in the bee, which took 14 rounds
before a winner was declared.
Mount Morris
The Mount Morris Central
School District is sending two
spelling champions to the re-
gional bee. They include Sixth
Grade Champion Jayla Mowday
and Junior High Champion
Holly Lin.
Jayla took elementary school
title after correctly spelling the
word “dispute.” Holly, who also
We Are BR PROUD!
Congratulations Scripps National
Spelling Bee Contestants!
Daniel Gelfond, MD • Humaira Hashmi, MD • Colleen Nugent, MD
Board Certified Pediatric Gastroenterologists
WNY Pediatric Gastroenterology, PLLC
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585-250-4132 • WNYPEDGI.COM
Spelling Bee
competed at the 2019 regional
bee, returned after winning her
bee by spelling the world “ob-
stacles” correctly.
Albion
Adam Burlison is the Albion
Middle School Spelling Bee
winner.
He competed against 24 oth-
er students in grades six through
eight for the title.
It took 13 rounds to weed
the spellers down to just three
finalists.
Finn McCue and Benjamin
O’Conner were tough spellers
and made it to the 15th round
where Finn misspelled the word
“solace” and Ben misspelled the
word “proximal.”
Adam spelled “misdemean-
or” correctly. He then spelled
the Round 16 word correctly.
The word was “hymnal.”
The entire audience erupted
into applause when Adam was
named the winner. He received
a certificate from Albion Middle
School Principal Brad Pritchard
and will move on to the Scripps
Regional Spelling Bee in the Le
Roy High School Auditorium.
This is the second year in a
row that Adam has won the lo-
cal spelling bee.
February 2020 • 7
PROVIDED PHOTOGRAPH
Albion Middle School Principal Brad Prtichard, left, presents
a certificate to Adam Burlison for winning the Albion Middle
School Spelling Bee. Adam, a two-time winner, outlasted 24 other
students in a competition that lasted 16 rounds.
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8 • February 2020 Spelling Bee

Connors & Ferris is a proud sponsor

of the WNY 2020 Scripps Spelling Bee!

Good luck to all the contestants!

3445 Winton Place Ste. 112, Rochester, NY 14623 • (585) 262-COMP

2570 Walden Ave. Buffalo, NY 14225 • (716) 684-COMP