N-o-m-i-n-a-t-i-o-n. Nomination. With that word, fifth-grader Jeremiah Mathew became the 2026 Spelling Bee winner at Patrick M. Villano School.
“I mean, I didn’t really feel anything at first. It just felt good,” Mathew said.
Mathew lasted 21 rounds to make it to the winner’s circle. The bee was held on Friday, January 30. Every homeroom in the school had a representative compete in the bee. These representatives were chosen because they were the last ones standing in their homeroom spelling bees.
“I thought that the Spelling Bee was a fun experience because I think that the whole experience was just a fun time, and it is not graded, so I did not stress as much as I would have if it was graded, so that made me not as scared,” Mathew explained.
Fourth grade student, Genevieve Suozzo, agreed that keeping calm is key.
“One thing I would say to people that are doing the Spelling Bee is to be confident in yourself and don’t think that you can’t do it, and just believe in yourself.”
“I thought it was pretty cool,” said fourth grader Timothy Gmahle. “I felt bad for the people that lost, but it was still pretty cool that they were brave enough to do it.”
“It was exciting,” said Matthew Bigos, a sixth grader on the school’s Student Council. The council sponors the bee, and Bigos introduced the bee with the other sixth-grade Student Congress officers.
Jeremiah Mathew moves onto the next round of spelling at Bergen Community College next month. The regional winner at the event continues toward the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. later this school year.
