by Siri Bulusu | Jun 1, 2016 | Education, Topics
At the tender age of 6, Akash Vukoti is the youngest contestant to ever compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Vukoti lost on his second turn in the oral portion of the preliminaries on the word “bacteriolytic,” and thanked his fellow...
by Xiumei Dong | May 31, 2016 | Education
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — After nearly an hour and 25 rounds of back-and-forth spelling in the finals, fifth-grader Nihar Janga from Texas and seventh-grader Jairam Hathwar from New York were declared co-champions of the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee; each took home...
by Kristen Vake | May 28, 2016 | Education, Topics
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Participants in the National Spelling Bee receive well-deserved awards and recognition, but what about their siblings? Medill Reporters sat down with some younger siblings of spellers to find out what it’s like to be the family...
by Haydee Clotter | May 27, 2016 | Education, Topics
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Chloe Johnson, an 8th grader at Gov. Thomas Johnson Middle School, survived two rounds at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Nearly 300 spellers are in the competition but only 50 make it to the championship round. Published in...
by Steve Musal | May 27, 2016 | Education
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — A Folsom, California, teen took third at the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday night after a hard fight. Snehaa Ganesh Kumar, a 13-year-old eighth grader at Folsom Middle School, missed “usucapion” (a legal term for seizing...
by Marisa Endicott | May 26, 2016 | Education
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Two New York City boys, Srinath Mahankali and Cerulean Ozarow, sat side by side, their fingers tapping and feet and knees bouncing as they waited their turn for a chance at the national spelling bee finals. When the 285 spellers were whittled...