Moriches, NY - January 8, 2017 - It took 13 rounds and 108 words before William Floyd Middle School eighth grader Nicholas Raftis spelled “frontispiece” correctly to win the school’s fourth annual spelling bee sponsored by the William Floyd Middle School PTO. For his efforts, Nicholas will travel to Hofstra University for the Long Island Regional Scripps Spelling Bee on February 4, 2018, to compete against the top spellers in all of Suffolk and Nassau counties for an opportunity to represent Long Island at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., held in the spring.
Coming in second place and serving as Nicholas’s alternate for the Long Island Regional Bee is eighth grader Rachel Somers; and serving as the second alternate with a third-place finish is seventh grader, Kayla Watson.
The William Floyd Middle School Spelling Bee is sponsored by the William Floyd Middle School PTO, which provides t-shirts to all of the student participants and pays the entrance fee for the winner to compete in the Hofstra Long Island Regional Scripps Spelling Bee. Special thanks to the PTO, spelling bee coordinators, Principal Carolyn Schick, teacher Linda Czarnomski as well as teacher judges Bea Foster, Roy Lee and Keith Houghtaling.