Brendan Deenan Wins Unqua Spelling Bee

Sixth grader, Brendan Deneen, was crowned the winner of Unqua Elementary School’s first fourth through sixth grade spelling bee, qualifying him to compete in the Hofstra Long Island Regional Scripps Spelling Bee on Feb. 8. This bee is the official qualifying competition for the National Scripps Spelling Bee held in Washington D.C. during Memorial Day weekend and will be held at 9 a.m. at Hofstra University’s John Cranford Adams Playhouse.

Second and third place winners were fifth grader, Jessalyn Murphy, and sixth grader Annabelle Lesser, respectively. All three winners received a trophy and a Barnes & Noble gift card.

The bee began with more than 100 fourth, fifth and sixth grade students competing in a preliminary bee. Then the winners from each class competed against each other for the school title. The 15 finalists were given study packets in order to prepare. The bee was conducted in rounds, and the contestants were seated in a random order that they picked right before the bee. The finalists went through 23 spelling rounds in about 45 minutes.

Courtesy Massapequa Schools