1st Washtenaw County Scripps Spelling Bee goes 25 rounds

Kavya correctly spelled the word in the 25th round of Saturday’s bee at Willow Run High School, outlasting two dozen competitors and winning a trip to the National Spelling Bee, beginning June 2 in Washington, D.C.

She bested fourth-grader Ariana Mitcham and seventh-grader Sreya Modepalli, both of Fortis Academy in Ypsilanti. They went down together in the 24th round when Ariana perished on “perennial” and Sreya stumbled over “opossum.”

Seven schools entered spellers. Five Fortis Falcons finished among the top 10. Enthusiasm beforehand for the bee had been so high that other Fortis students were quizzing the spellers while they tried to eat their lunches.

“It was really touching,” said Fortis dean Jamie Spaulding.

Rohan Dharan, a University of Michigan graduate student, was the pronouncer and had to deliver such obscurities as “koan” (a Zen paradox), “springbok” (a southern African gazelle) and “ocarina” (an oval-bodied wind instrument).

After claiming her medal, Kavya said she’d had little time to prepare for the competition after placing second in the Michigan Charter School State Spelling Bee, held Feb. 20 at Trillium Academy in Taylor.

The 3 finalists stalemated from Rounds 20 through 24 in an exceedingly tense battle. Sreya survived her biggest challenge during these rounds by spelling “langlauf,” a German-derived word for cross-country racing on foot or skis.

Nine-year-old Ariana — who described herself as “a lot nervous” — managed “salve,” “jeremiad” and “precipice” before going out. She says she will study harder and return next year.

“I did my best; she did her best,” she said of Kavya.

“They were actually really good,” Kavya said of her rivals.

Jennifer Conley, dean of the 760-student South Arbor Academy, described Kavya as “a hard worker with a great memory.” She said the school’s spellers have participated in charter-school bees, but the administration was searching for a Scripps bee.

“I was glad they pulled something like this together for the kids,” Conley said.

Penny Morgan, academic services facilitator for the Willow Run Community Schools, said the district emphasizes spelling bees and made a special effort to land the Scripps bee for Washtenaw County. Permission was granted last fall.

“We’ve been working ever since,” Morgan said.

Now facing the national competition, Kavya said, “I guess I’d have to study every day.” But she added that she doesn’t expect to win. While in Washington, she’ll “probably visit the Capitol and just go on a tour.”