Jeremiah Mathew, a fifth-grader at Patrick M. Villano School, placed ninth in the 91st annual North Jersey Spelling Bee this month. The bee ended with the word pavlova, according to a Bergen County official social media post on March 13, 2026. Part of speech: noun. Origin: Australia and New Zealand. Definition: a fruit dessert with meringie and whipped cream.
The word was correctly spelled by a seventh grader, Keona Osae-Twum, of Eastern Christian Middle School in Wyckoff, New Jersey. Osea-Twum is headed to Washington, D.C., in May to participate in the National Scripps Spelling Bee, stated the post.
About 70 elementary and middle school studens from the area particiated in the North Jersey Spelling Bee this year at Bergen Community College.
