Raghib Rahman is the City's Fifth Grade Spelling Champ

Thank you! The pronouncer for the Spelling Bee was Dr. Jane Dorian, Professor at Fordham University and former Yonkers Public Schools English teacher. Judges were Vincent McPartlan, Executive Director of Elementary and Secondary Administration, Sheryl Chasin, Director of Organization Development, Elda Perez-Mejia, Assistant Director Reading and Language Development and Helen Henkel from the Exchange Club of Yonkers.

This PEARLS fifth grader knows how to accentuate the positive, winning a nail biter at last night's Spelling Bee by correctly spelling not one, but two, multi-syllablic tongue twisters: ac-cen-tu-ate and com-mem-o-ra-tion. Right on Raghib's heels at the 45th Annual Citywide Fifth Grade Spelling Bee were second place winner Charles Restivo from Montessori 11, and in third place, Fernando Paulino from Enrico Fermi.

Sponsored by the Exchange Club of Yonkers, the Fifth Grade Spelling Bee has been a Yonkers tradition for more than four decades, involving thousands of children in classroom and schoolwide elimination contests as they move up to the Citywide Finals. This year, forty-five schools sent 88 students to the competition.