Kavya Shivashankar wins National Spelling Bee Cool and collected, Kavya Shivashankar wrote out every word on her palm and always ended with a smile. The 13-year-old Kansas girl saved the biggest smile for last, when she rattled off the letters to "Laodicean" to become the nation's spelling champion. After six years of inhaling dictionaries word by word, memorizing their meanings, studying their roots and perfecting their pronunciations, she bested 292 competitors and aced 40 words to capture... Read Full Story
Less than 50 young spellers have advanced to the final day of competition of the national bee. Forty-one of the record 293 spellers survived the preliminary rounds Wednesday and will compete in the semifinals starting Thursday morning. The finals of the 82nd Scripps National Spelling Bee take place Thursday night. The winner gets more than $40,000 in cash and prizes. The competition began Tuesday with a written test. That score was combined with Wednesday's oral rounds to produce the... Read Full Story
Kavya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kansas won the Scripps National Spelling Bee May 28, 2009. The word that helped her seal the victory? “Laodicean”.
Kavya, an adorable 13-year-old from Kansas City, has been making the rounds on national tv since she won Thursday night, enjoying her new found fame.
According the the Miami Herald, the young spelling whiz’s mom states that her daughter“… isn’t even sure that she did something great. She is good. She carries herself so well... Read Full Story
Name: Kavya Shivashankar Age: 13 Hails from: Olathe, Kansas Occupation: Spelling Bee Champ Known for: Correctly spelling "Laodicean" --meaning: lukewarm or indifferent, particularly in matters of religion or politics--to clinch the 82nd Scripps National Spelling Bee last week. Being a Hardass Asian Parents' Ultimate Wet Dream--watch Kavya's interview with the Chenbot where she describes how she juggled training for the spelling bee with a busy schedule of homework, practicing the violin, and... Read Full Story
Trophy news from the 82nd annual bee
Spelling Bee Trophies
The 4th time was a charm for new spelling bee champion
Televised in prime time, last night the 82 nd annual bee (Scripps National Spelling Bee) had a record number of participants with 293 hopeful competitors.
13-year-old Kavya Shivashankar correctly spelled ‘Laodicean’ to win the bee. She raised high her champion trophy with a shy smile. As it turns out the 4 th time was the charm for Kavya, who had competed in the last... Read Full Story
It took Michael Petrina Jr. 51 years to finally win a national spelling bee. The Arlington, Va., man bested 45 other spellers older than 50 to win the AARP's annual National Spelling Bee Saturday in Cheyenne. The 64-year-old's winning word was "woad," a plant whose leaves yield a blue dye. AARP spokeswoman Joanne Bowlby says Petrina won his state's national spelling bee when he was 13, but then lost at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. In second place Saturday was 55-year-old Scott... Read Full Story
13-year-old Kavya Shivashankar from Kansas has won the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Out of nearly 300 contestants, Kavya won by spelling “laodicean” correctly. Definition of “laodicean” is lukewarm or indifferent in religion or politics.
Kavya enjoys practicing her violin, bicycling, swimming, and learning Indian classical dance. She names Nupur Lala, the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion, as her role model and the inspiration for her spelling career. She has plans for her... Read Full Story
Washington, May 29 (ANI): Kansas-based, Indian-origin girl Kavya Shivashankar, 13, has become America’s spelling champion by winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The budding neurosurgeon from Olathe took home more than 40,000 dollars in cash and prizes and the huge champion’s trophy.
The word spelling which she became the victor on Thursday night was “Laodicean”, which means [...] Read Full Story
Some commentary about the spelling bee - From Midwest Voices Kavya Shivashankar of Olathe, the Scripps National Spelling Bee champion, gives Kansas a welcome national reputation boost. From Pet Rock: The Pop Culture Blog Get a look at some of the words in the final round these kids were asked to attempt to spell: phoresy menhir Maecenas sophrosyne isagoge guayabera ophelimity oriflamme bouquiniste antonomasia diacoele reredos Seriously, these are words? These aren't words. These are those... Read Full Story
India American teenager Kavya Shivashankar finally won it all in the televised US National Spelling Bee competition, nailing esoteric words from "hydrargyrum" to "Laodicean", coolly writing them down with her finger on her palm.
First, the budding neurosurgeon correctly spelled "hydrargyrum", as chemists call mercury or quicksilver. Then she nailed "blancmange", a moulded dessert, and "baignoire", a low theatre box.
In the fourth round, she correctly spelled "huisache", a thorny... Read Full Story
Usain Bolt said he had no intentions of playing professional football in the United States, and apparently he has no intention of testing his speed against the NFL's best either.
