An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but for one student a McIntosh made her the Locust Valley Middle School spelling bee champion.

Spelling McIntosh correctly, seventh grader Inshaal Abid took the school title for the second year in a row. Last year, her winning word was “astonishment.” Both as a sixth grader and seventh grader she has beaten her older classmates to the podium.

Sixth grade runner-up Evie Bergman helped prove that age does not guarantee a win. The girls competed among 25 middle school students who had each been the winner in their individual English classes. 

Inshaal now must take a 50-question written computer test to qualify for the Teachers Federal Credit Union Long Island Regional Spelling Bee on March 12, 2020. Each round of competition is part of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

We are rooting for you, Inshaal! 

For the second year in a row, seventh grader John Hartnett took first place in the Locust Valley Middle School level of the National Geographic GeoBee. As a sixth grader, John traveled to Albany after qualifying to compete in the state level of the competition.

With 25 students in sixth, seventh and eighth grade competing on stage at the school-level geography bee, John answered every question correctly, with topics ranging from United States cities to identifying the continent in which a particular city is located. Rowan Shenoy took the second place spot in the competition.

Answering questions based on topics covered in the middle school social studies curriculum, the students earned their spots in the schoolwide competition by first winning at the classroom level.

"This year's competitors were extremely well prepared and knowledgeable,” said coordinator of social studies and business, K-12, Bryan Sarandrea. “Their ability to correctly answer questions that stretched their knowledge base far outside of social studies class was impressive."

John will now take an online test to qualify to compete at the state level again. 

Good luck, John!