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:
#
School
Speller Name
Grade
Age
Neighborhood
1
Boston College High School
Mark Bryant
7th
12
Quincy
2
Boston Latin School
Brian Xu
8th
14
Roxbury
3
Boston Preparatory Charter School
Morgan G. Bocchicchio Chaudri
7th
12
Dorchester
4
Brooke Charter School, East Boston
Alexandra Amaya
7th
12
Chelsea
5
Brooke Charter School, Mattapan
Chosen Oleribe
8th
12
Mattapan
6
Brooke Charter School, Roslindale
Nahom Zekariyas
5th
11
Roslindale
7
Curtis Guild Elementary
Mia Rojas Cervantes
5th
11
East Boston
8
Edison K-8
Dylan Kit
6th
11
Brighton
9
Eliot Innovation Upper School
Sapna Malhotra
7th
12
West End
10
Harvard Kent Elementary School
Delilah Quispe
6th
12
East Boston
11
Henry Grew School
Meleni Diaz
6th
11
East Boston
12
Kipp Academy, Boston
Isis (Sage) Daniels
8th
13
Chinatown
13
Lyndon Elementary School
Maeve Rebelo
5th
11
West Roxbury
14
Manning Elementary School
Augustin Derr
6th
11
Jamaica Plain
15
Mother Caroline Academy
Faith Mogoli
8th
13
Dorchester
16
Murphy K-8 School
Jason Nguyen
7th
13
Dorchester
17
Samuel Adams Elementary
Winston Zhou
5th
11
East Boston
18
South Boston Catholic Academy
Mason Finn
6th
12
South Boston
19
St. John Academy
Alyssa DePasquale
8th
13
Somerville
20
Sumner Elementary
Rory Smallwood
5
11
Roslindale
21
Warren Prescott
Max Ehrenpreis
5
11
Charlestown
22
William H. Ohrenberger
Jah Vai Massie
5th
11
West Roxbury
23
Winship Elementary School
Tanoshi Inomata
5th
11
Allston
Winning words from the previous years of the Bee:
Year
Winning Word
2008
Lariat
2009
Scenario
2010
Ravioli
2011
Toboggan
2012
Myriad
2013
Schnauzer
2014
Contiguous
2015
Schottische
2016
Diurnal
2017
Cacophony
2018
Crescendo
2019
Huckabee
2021
Glissando
2022
Après
2023
Ancho
2024
Cornea
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.
