Boston’s Best Spellers Celebrated at 16th Annual Citywide Spelling Bee

Family members, teachers, and friends were on hand today to support 23 Boston youth from across the City competing in Boston’s 16th annual BCYF Citywide Spelling Bee. Organized by Boston Centers for Youth & Families (BCYF), the City of Boston’s largest youth and human service agency, and sponsored by the Boston Bruins Foundation, the winner, Tanoshi Inomata, age 11 from Allston, now goes on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. in May.  

 “I am so proud of all of our students today who showcased the many bright minds and talents of our City’s young people,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “Congratulations to Tanoshi for your hard work and all of Boston will be cheering for you in Washington D.C.”

Over 3,000 young people participated in Boston public and parochial school Bees to qualify for the BCYF Citywide Bee. The preparation for the school Bees helps young people improve their spelling, broaden their vocabulary and build self-confidence. 

 “We are very proud of all our spellers today and so thankful to the Boston Bruins Foundation’s continuing partnership to bring this exciting opportunity to our city’s youth,” said Marta Rivera, Commissioner of BCYF. “And, special thanks to our panel of judges–Chief Chu, Sebastian Stockman and Dave Silk–who volunteered their time to support us today. We will be cheering on Tanoshi when he/she represents Boston at the National Bee.”

Commissioner Rivera opened the speaking program and welcomed the spellers and their families. All spellers were given participation medals. The Bee was held in Rabb Hall at the Boston Public Library’s Copley Branch. Judges were Tiffany Chu, Chief of Staff to Mayor Michelle Wu; Sebastian Stockman, Professor of English, Northeastern University; and Dave Silk, Boston Bruins alum,1980 US Olympic gold medalist and Boston Bruins Foundation Member.

 Tanoshi Inomata, the winner of this year’s Bee for the second year in a row, won by spelling "cornea” correctly.  The second place finisher was Sapna Malhotra, age 12, from Boston and coming in third was Morgan Bocchicchio Chaudhri, age 12 from Dorchester. The Bee went 13 rounds and one final and one championship round.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is the nation’s largest and longest-running spelling bee. This year’s Boston winner will now advance to compete in the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee.  The one and only national winner from Massachusetts was in 1939. In addition to the opportunity to advance to the National Bee, the BCYF Spelling Bee winner received the Samuel Louis Sugarman Award, a 2024 U.S Mint Proof Set donated by Mr.Jay Sugarmann in honor of his father, a one-year subscription to Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online, a one-year subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica Online Premium, a one year subscription to the virtual library Epic Family and a trophy. Second place and third place finishers received a $125 Amazon Amazon Gift Card and trophies.  

 Participating Spellers:

Winning words from the previous years of the Bee:

Boston Centers for Youth & Families (BCYF) is the City of Boston’s largest youth and human service agency. BCYF operates community centers in Boston that offer a variety of engaging and enriching programs for people of all ages created through community input and need. BCYF also oversees many citywide programs.