Lake County 12-year-old headed to National Spelling Bee after marathon faceoff; ‘This is no different than a sport'
He will compete at the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. Seventy-three Lake County schools and hundreds of students had participated in spelling bee sectionals across the county prior to Wednesday's Regional Spelling Bee.
The evening's competition began quickly enough, led by Ashley Whitaker, dual language instructional specialist at John Lewis Middle School in Waukegan, with one student eliminated in the first round with the word 'dawdle.' Competitors continued to be whittled down each round, including one missing the word 'literally.'
But things ground to a halt as Visharad, a 12-year-old who attends Lake Forest Country Day School, faced 13-year-old Ian Leong, from Matthews Middle School in Island Lake, for well over an hour, long after the other nine students had been eliminated.
The competition went on so long, that each consecutive round was followed by a quiet gasp from the small crowd of parents, and a few playful groans from younger siblings. Some parents of eliminated participants traded wide-eyed glances with their children after especially difficult words, including 'umbelliferous' and 'sponsalia.'
Both students continued to trade orthographic knowledge until they reached the final portion of the competition. The judges explained all the terms going forward would not be on the list of words the students had been provided to study, instead drawing from 'Merriam Webster Unabridged.'
It was ultimately 'kombu,' a Japanese word for edible kelp, that Ian slipped up on, and Visharad managed to successfully spell 'osoberry' and 'Chesapeake' to take first place, winning a one-year subscription to 'Merriam Webster Unabridged' and Britannica Online premium, and a 2025 United States Mint coin set.
Visharad will also receive a six-night stay for the National Spelling Bee, which is celebrating its 100th year.
The Grayslake resident said he's following in his family's footsteps. His older brother, 16-year-old Sahasrad, previously made it to the national competition, and will give him some coaching as the main event approaches. Visharad said he has plenty of work ahead, even after Wednesday's drawn-out competition.
'I'm pretty excited,' he said. 'It's pretty surreal. I have to do a lot more preparation, probably every single day.'
That includes plenty of reading. Visharad said he even studies the dictionary, going through the definitions and pronunciations of difficult words. He finds words with unique language patterns, especially those from French and German, the hardest for him.
Visharad shared the reactions from friends at school and his family after his win Wednesday night.
'They're pretty excited for me,' he said. 'They congratulated me a lot. They wanted to know more about what would happen after I go to the nationals. (My family) was very proud of me after I won.'
Michel Karner, regional superintendent of schools for the Lake County Regional Office of Education, said the county has been participating in the Scripps spelling bee for many decades, with a local student even making it several rounds at the national level last year.
'It's very competitive, and students take this very seriously,' he said. 'This is no different than a sport or other activity, where they really want to excel and be that winner.'
Karner, who recalled competing in spelling bees himself as a child, said they are a 'great opportunity' for younger students to get involved academically.
His go-to difficult word is 'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,' although competitors will be happy to know it won't be appearing during any official spelling bees.
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