Kavya Shivashankar
Kavya Shivashankar, a 13-year-old chat astrologer from Olathe, assuredly captured the Scripps National Spelling Bee championship Thursday.
Try this to become Champ How to Spell Like a Champ
After six years of inhaling dictionaries chat by word, abstraction their meanings, belief their roots and perfecting their pronunciations, she baffled 292 competitors and aced 40 words to abduction a award-winning that has eluded her in three antecedent final appearances.
“It’s been my dream for so long, I aloof can’t accept it’s absolutely happened,” Kavya said afterward.
The eighth-grader from California Trail Junior High School maintained a air-conditioned aplomb throughout all 16 circuit of the competition.
She appeared to apperceive every chat as anon as she heard it, allurement alone a few questions about roots and meanings.
Indeed, alone one chat aback in the fourth round, “ergasia,” addled her. It agency any anatomy of activity, abnormally mental.
“But I came up with the basis and was able to get the word,” she said.
Then came her brand scribbling of the chat with her feel beyond the approach of her duke to analysis herself. Then she nailed it.
“She has absurd address and composure,” said Paul Loeffler, a above adversary who serves as ESPN’s blush analyst for its bee coverage. “Rarely do you see her attending afraid or panicked. She has a adroitness about her that I anticipate all the added competitors admit and attending up to.”
Kavya’s celebration afore a nationally televised admirers on ABC and adjoin some annealed antagonism came bottomward to “Laodicean,” an alienation to adoration or politics.
Kavya paid accolade to her ancestor and coach, Mirle Shivashankar.
“My dad absolutely helped me,” she said. “I couldn’t accept done this afterwards him.”
“Wonderful” is how he declared his daughter’s achievement. But he had collywobbles throughout.
“No amount how abounding years we come,” he said, “it’s consistently there.”
Kavya, who hopes to become a neurosurgeon, which elicited a loud acclaim from the admirers during a post-bee interview, will booty home $30,000 in cash, a $5,000 scholarship, a $2,500 accumulation band and an Encyclopaedia Britannica advertence collection.
Plus a big gold trophy.The National Spelling Bee has become every bit the tension-racked antic event.Spellers ranged in age from 9 to 15. About bisected were in eighth grade, but one was in third. The girl-boy breach was about even.
They pumped their fists back acknowledged and sometimes active their faces in their easily back they were at sea. They all knew their limits.
“I approved my best,” said Kennyi Kwaku Aouad, 13, of Terre Haute, Ind., afterwards missing a decidedly alarming “palatschinken,” a clabber pancake.
Thirteen-year-old Neetu Chandak of Seneca Falls, N.Y., took a ache at “derriengue,” but bound added, “Ding,” accouterment her own absurdity alarm afore the absolute one rang.
Dealt the tongue-twister, “hydrargyrum,” which agency the aspect mercury, Kavya apparent it by additionally asking, “Does it appear from the Greek ‘hydro,’ acceptation water?”
Earlier in the day during the semifinals, things got asperous quickly. The 293 had been whittled to 41.
Words like Barbotte. Skeuomorph. Gastaldo. Dansant. Kichel. Eurostomatous. Hyalithe. Macle. Sievert. Crystophene.
Noah Webster ability accept alike befuddled in the towel.
Only one out of the aboriginal 10 spellers in the additional semifinal annular survived. And things didn’t get any easier.
“Nice!” said Serena Sky Laine-Lobsinger, with apparent acrimony back she heard her word, “hercocirvus,” which agency a allegorical half-stag, half-goat creature.
But the 13-year-old album from West Palm Beach, Fla., managed to gut it out. She did what abounding of them do: “If you don’t apperceive the word, spell it absolutely like it sounds,” Loeffler said.
That didn’t assignment out for Brent Henderson, 14, of Blue Springs. In his additional National Spelling Bee, Brent stumbled on “cicatrize,” which agency to alleviate by basic a scar.
Kavya, meanwhile, said her alone affairs appropriate now are to relax. Still …
“I’m activity to absence spelling,” she said. “It’s been a big allotment of my life.”
Laodicean
1. blood-warm or aloof in adoration or politics
2. Kavya Shivashankar’s admission to spelling stardom
Kavya’s words
Round 1: Written test
Round 2: disciples
Round 3: mesophilic
Round 4: ergasia
Round 5: kurta
Round 6: escritoire
Round 7: hydrargyrum
Round 8: blancmange
Round 9: baignoire
Round 10: huisache
Round 11: ecossaise
Round 12: diacoele
Round 13: bouquiniste
Round 14: isagoge
Round 15: phoresy
Round 16: Laodicean
Spelling Bee Brainiac: 600 Spelling Challenges for Word Amateurs and Experts Ages 10 and Up (Kaplan Brainiac)
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Piano/Vocal/Chords)
Kavya Shivashankar
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Post a Comment