Newark Middle School eighth grader Cole Talbot was the sole speller in the 27th round at the Newark Central School District Spelling Bee February 25th when he calmly and correctly spelled “logistics” and won first place.

Sixth grader Braydan Sherman won second place and the third place winner, the alternate position, was sixth grader Olivia Demer.

The first and second place spellers will compete in the Regional Spelling Bee at Hobart and William Smith College on Saturday, March 21.

The other contestants in the annual Bee included: 6th graders Orazio Felice and Austin Kaufman, seventh graders Ryan Hinks and Mikalya Miller and eighth grader Grayson Cole.

“I want to commend each of our contestants for their prowess in spelling, and the way each student composed themselves with “Newark Pride,” said Melissa Hager, the eighth grade ELA teacher in charge of the annual event. “I look forward to attending the Regional Spelling Bee, in further support of our expert spellers.”

She also thanked judges Stefan Uveges, who also teaches 8th grade ELA at NMS and Dominic Vassallo, who teaches vocal music at Kelley School  “who graciously volunteered their time to support students.”

Just as she has done in recent years, Hager meticulously pronounced and enunciated each word and read a sentence it was used in before each contestant was required to spell it during the Bee.

To qualify to participate in the NMS Spelling Bee, all sixth through eighth grade students at NMS took a spelling test.