2 Tennessee students reach semifinals in 100th anniversary of Scripps National Spelling Bee
OXON HILL, Md. (WKRN) — Nearly 250 word wizards gathered at a convention center just outside Washington, D.C., this week to vie for victory at the 100th anniversary of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Organizers said the first National Spelling Bee was held in 1925, sponsored by the Louisville Courier-Journal, which invited other newspapers across the country to hold spelling bees and send their champions to D.C. However, since the event was canceled from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II, and again in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2025 competition is only the 97th bee, despite it being the 100th anniversary year.
In this monumental year for the Scripps National Spelling Bee, three students from the Volunteer State showed off their skills, with two of them advancing farther than any Tennessee competitors from 2024 or 2023.
Officials said this year's event featured 243 contestants — 53 of whom competed in the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee — between the ages of 8 and 14. The spellers represent all 50 states and D.C., as well as Canada, the Bahamas, Germany, Ghana, Kuwait, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
National Spelling Bee champions say it set them up for success: 'You attain a level of mastery'
The competition's media guide shared some additional fun facts about the 2025 participants:
Gender:
130 male spellers
112 female spellers
One preferred not to answer
Grade:
One in second grade
10 in fourth grade
25 in fifth grade
35 in sixth grade
67 in seventh grade
105 in eighth grade
School type:
170 from public schools
41 from private schools
14 from charter schools
12 from parochial schools
Six who are homeschooled
Not only have 65 of this year's students previously competed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, but 19 contestants have relatives who have participated in a combined 34 Scripps National Spelling Bees.
Three spelling gurus from the Volunteer State showed up at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center to compete in this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee, according to organizers:
(Courtesy: Scripps National Spelling Bee media guide)
Jashit 'Josh' Verma, 10, is a fourth grader at Farmington Elementary School in Germantown who won the spelling bee sponsored by the University of Memphis.
'Josh is an avid reader, aspiring astronaut and advanced blue-belt martial arts student. A member of the guitar club in his school, he also enjoys playing 'Minecraft' with his little sister,' his profile on the spelling bee website said. 'He spends the rest of his leisure time exploring spacecraft prototype designs.'
Josh also competed in the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee, during which he made it all the way to Round 5. He was eliminated when he incorrectly defined a 'reprobate' as 'a sum of money discounted from a purchase' rather than 'a depraved or unprincipled person,' officials said, so he tied for 46th place overall.
Swetank Venkata Bangaru, 11, is a fifth grader at Towne Acres Elementary School in Johnson City who won a spelling bee sponsored by the Tennessee Titans.
'Swetank is a true learner. He is constantly reading and asking questions. He is excited and energized by learning new subjects, ranging from geography to physics,' his spelling bee profile said. 'Most recently, Swetank has been reading about the coding language Python and teaching himself to code. He is also very family-oriented and extremely caring for others.'
Vidula Kalathur, 13, is a seventh grader at Woodland Middle School in Brentwood who won a spelling bee sponsored by the Tennessee Titans.
'Vidula has a wide range of interests. Whether borrowing her sister's books when she's bored, preparing for her debate competitions or laughing at cartoons, she is always engaged and curious. Truly a hardworking individual, Vidula put in a lot of time and effort to earn second place in her first year competing in the middle school debate competition,' her profile on the spelling bee website said. 'Not only is Vidula eager to learn, but she is also passionate about helping others learn. She plays the viola in her school orchestra and is a tae kwon do student. Despite being in middle school, Vidula started tutoring others at a young age. Her favorite book genres are fantasy, sci-fi and dystopian. In school, math and science are her favorite subjects, and she likes to solve competition math problems.'
To win the Scripps National Spelling Bee, contenders must also master geography
Organizers said seven Tennesseans — including four from Knoxville, which is considered one of the top sponsor cities of champions, and three from Memphis — have won the Scripps National Spelling Bee since it was first held in 1925. The most recent victory for the Volunteer State was in 1995, thanks to Justin Tyler Carroll of Memphis.
The 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee competition schedule is listed below, with all of the events written in Eastern Time:
Day
Event
Time
Tuesday, May 27
Preliminaries (first two rounds)Preliminaries (written test)
8 a.m. to 3:40 p.m.5:15 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Wednesday, May 28
QuarterfinalsSemifinals
8 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 29
Finals
7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
In the preliminaries on Tuesday, May 27, officials said students participated in two rounds of oral competition: spelling and vocabulary. Forty-two spellers were eliminated in Round 1, followed by 18 more contestants in Round 2.
The 183 competitors who made it through the first two rounds sat for a written spelling and vocabulary test Tuesday evening. The event website said 99 of them scored at least 13 on the test in Round 3, which qualified them for the quarterfinals, but 84 students were eliminated, including one from Tennessee.
Scripps National Spelling Bee guide: How to watch, who the notable spellers are, rules and prizes
On Wednesday, May 28, the contestants continued with the oral competition from the preliminaries, featuring spelling, vocabulary, and more spelling. As a result of incorrect answers, 11 were eliminated in Round 4, 15 were eliminated in Round 5, and 16 were eliminated in Round 6.
Here is a summary of the Tennessee contestants' performance in the first six rounds of the 2025 competition, based on the bee's result's page:
Jashit 'Josh' Verma (#198):
Correctly spelled 'unakite' in Round 1
Correctly answered 'a person who loves high-quality food and drink' when asked what a 'gastronome' is in Round 2
Eliminated after not meeting test threshold in Round 3, meaning he tied for 100th place
Swetank Bangaru (#199):
Correctly spelled 'hominin' in Round 1
Correctly answered 'ostentatious presentation of knowledge' when asked what 'pedantry' is in Round 2
Met test threshold in Round 3
Correctly spelled 'whist' in Round 4
Correctly answered 'fully comprehended or understood' when asked what something described as 'unfathomable' cannot be in Round 5
Correctly spelled 'conniption' in Round 6
Vidula Kalathur (#200):
Correctly spelled 'as nas' in Round 1
Correctly answered 'begins a lawsuit of some kind' when asked what a 'plaintiff' does in Round 2
Met test threshold in Round 3
Correctly spelled 'adamant' in Round 4
Correctly answered 'incapable of error' when asked what 'infallible' means in Round 5
Correctly spelled 'bifidity' in Round 6
A total of 57 competitors, including Tennessee's Swetank and Vidula, advanced to the semifinals, which got underway Wednesday afternoon.
Swetank was knocked out in Round 7 when he misspelled 'gyrencephalate' as 'gyrancephalate,' so he tied for 41st place. However, Vidula correctly spelled 'hirundine,' making her one of 40 semifinalists to proceed to Round 8.
⏩
Follow these links to learn more about the rules, prizes, live coverage, the various spellers, and the results of each round in the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
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This is a developing story. WKRN News 2 will continue to update this article as new information becomes available.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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