In a spelling competition that lasted 25-rounds, five Fayetteville-Manlius School District students emerged as top spellers, securing their spots in the regional qualifying spelling bee.
Hazel Bazzano took first place in F-M’s 2025-26 Spelling Bee. Nandan Peddibhotla placed second, Nikhil Jasti placed third, with Selin Gursoy and Hannah Park tying for fourth place, rounding out the top five contestants in the competition.
25 students from both Eagle Hill and Wellwood Middle Schools participated in the oral spelling bee. In order to qualify, students in grades 5-8 completed a 50 word written exam. Out of approximately 80 students who took the exam, the top-scoring students advanced to the spelling bee.
The five winning contestants will now advance to the Post-Standard/syracuse.com Regional Qualifying Spelling Bee. This is an online written contest for school finalists that will take place in February.
The top-scoring students from the written contest will participate in the Regional Oral Spelling Bee this coming spring at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
The winner of the Regional Oral Spelling Bee will qualify for the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C, which will take place in May.
The National Spelling Bee was started in 1925 and the F-M district has been participating in the Regional Spelling Bee for more than 30 years.