Boston’s best spellers celebrated at 11th annual Citywide Spelling Bee

A crowd of family members, teachers and friends were on hand today to congratulate 20 Boston youth from across the City competing in Boston’s eleventh annual BCYF Citywide Spelling Bee at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square. 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 now goes on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., in May.  

“We are very proud to be hosting the BCYF Citywide Spelling Bee for the eleventh year,” said William Morales, Commissioner of BCYF.  “The competition is fierce and the young spellers are truly inspiring.  Thank you to our longtime sponsor, the Boston Bruins Foundation, for supporting the BCYF Bee each year and giving us a chance to show off Boston’s talented youth.”

More than 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. 

Commissioner Morales opened the speaking program and welcomed the spellers and their families and presented each speller with a participation medal.  The judges this year were Scot Colford from the Boston Public Library, Michael Farma from the Massachusetts Department of Education and Assistant Superintendent Amalio Nieves of the Boston Public Schools. It was an exciting, suspenseful event with cheers (and some tears) from the audience and participants. 

The winner of this year’s Bee was Mira Yu age 12 from the North End who won by spelling "crescendo” correctly.  The second place finisher was Nicla Marabito age 10 from the North End and coming in third was Hope Succee age 13 from West Roxbury. The Bee went 11 rounds plus 4 final rounds before the Championship Round.

“It was an amazing day and I did not expect to win,” said Yu. “I am daunted by the thought of the National Bee but I am going to continue to study.”

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is the nation’s largest and longest-running spelling bee.  School children from all over the country meet in Washington D.C. every May to compete in the National Bee.  The one and only winner from Massachusetts was in 1939. In addition to an all-expenses paid trip to the National Bee, the BCYF Spelling Bee winner received a dictionary, a $100 savings bond, and a trophy.  Second place and third place finishers received Barnes and Noble gift cards and trophies.