![Markus Ferrara, Grade 8, Wins Orange-Ulster BOCES Regional Spelling Bee]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1679014161/oubocesorg/o6amltr6pbc2kll6lrwd/winnered.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1679014161/oubocesorg/o6amltr6pbc2kll6lrwd/winnered.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1679014161/oubocesorg/o6amltr6pbc2kll6lrwd/winnered.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1679014161/oubocesorg/o6amltr6pbc2kll6lrwd/winnered.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1679014161/oubocesorg/o6amltr6pbc2kll6lrwd/winnered.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_6/v1679014161/oubocesorg/o6amltr6pbc2kll6lrwd/winnered.jpg","width":2200}])
- Instructional Support Services
Goshen - Markus Ferrara, an eighth-grade student who attends Port Jervis Middle School in the Port Jervis School District, became the first place winner of the annual spelling bee held at Orange-Ulster BOCES on March 16, 2023. The event is organized each year by the Division of Instructional Support Services and was sponsored by Orange-Ulster BOCES, in collaboration with the Orange County School Boards Association and the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan. As part of this sponsorship, Markus will represent Orange County in the national bee.
As a result of winning the Regional Spelling Bee, Markus will compete on the national level at the Scripps National Spelling Bee to be held in the Washington, D.C. area from May 28 through June 3, 2023. Markus will also receive subscriptions to Britannica Online and Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary as well as the Samuel Louis Sugarman Award.
For remaining in the competition through the final round, three students were granted joint second place. They are: Izgi Bogubaev from Monroe-Woodbury Middle School, Keturah Jordan from Washingtonville Middle School and Joseph Veltri of Chester Academy.
The winners will receive commemorative plaques with their names engraved on them and Barnes and Noble gift cards. Each bee participant received a certificate. The seventh and eighth-grade students competing this year were from the following schools:
- Chester Academy Middle School
- Cornwall Central Middle School
- C. J. Hooker Middle School, (Goshen CSD)
- Highland Falls Intermediate School
- Minisink Valley Middle School
- Monroe-Woodbury Middle School
- Port Jervis Middle School
- Valley Central Middle School
- Washingtonville Middle School
The bee’s pronouncer and coordinator was Melanie Lofaro, Assistant Director of Instructional Support Services at Orange-Ulster BOCES (OUB) The assistant coordinator of the bee was Jacob Anderson, Teaching Assistant at OUB. Bee judges included Sheri McNair, Librarian, James I. O’Neill High School (Highland Falls); Christopher Rugnetta, Teaching Assistant at OUB; and Kathleen Helhoski, Instructional Support Specialist at OUB.
For more information about the spelling bee, please contact Mrs. Melanie Lofaro, at the Division of Instructional Support Services at OUB (845) 781-4363.
