Latest news with #AishwaryaKallakuri
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Charlotte teen finishes in top 4 at Scripps National Spelling Bee
WASHINGTON, D.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Charlotte 14-year-old Aishwarya Kallakuri reached the final four in the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee. After nailing 'corylaceous' with six spellers remaining Thursday night, she slipped the next round on 'Keighly,' which is a town in northern England — pronounced 'keeth-lee.' 14-year-old from Charlotte advances to Scripps National Spelling Bee finals Aishwarya attends Valor Preparatory Academy in Concord. She reached the finals in DC after winning a regional spelling bee hosted by the Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Faizan Zaki came out on top in the 20th round to win the competition. He won the title by spelling 'Chaldee' correctly. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Guardian
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The 97th Scripps National Spelling Bee
Cyleane Equra Ama Quansah, 11, of Accra, Ghana, spells her word in the preliminaries. Sixty spellers were eliminated in Tuesday's early spelling and vocabulary rounds, leaving 183 to take a written spelling and vocabulary test ahead of Wednesday's quarter-finals. Photograph:Raian Timur, 10, of Greenwood, Indiana, yawns while awaiting his turn in the preliminaries. Photograph:A participant studies for the National Spelling Bee at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center. Photograph: TheTarini Handakumar, 14, of Austin, Texas, spells her word during the preliminaries. Photograph:Aurora Ottilie Spisak, 14, of Dayton, Ohio dances during a commercial break during Tuesday's preliminaries. Photograph:Zwe Sunyata Spacetime, 13, of Washington DC, spells his word in the preliminaries. Photograph:Zachary Luke Milallos Rara, 13, of Louisville, Kentucky, spells his word in the preliminaries. Photograph:Beatriz Lucille Whitford-Rodriguez, 14, of Chicago, reacts after successfully spelling her word in the quarter-finals. Photograph:The elite field of 243 spellers from all over the globe was narrowed down to 57 semi-finalists following the preliminary and quarter-final rounds. Photograph:Isaac Gabriel Cancio, 14, of Corpus Christi, Texas, hugs his family after making it into the semi-finals. Photograph:Aishwarya Kallakuri, 14, of Charlotte, North Carolina, spells her word in Wednesday's semi-finals. Photograph:Hannah Kuo, 12, of San Bernardino, California's family cheers after she correctly spells her word in the semi-finals. Photograph:Sarv Shailesh Dharavane, 11, of Tucker, Georgia, reacts after successfully spelling his word in the semi-finals. He is one of nine spellers who advanced to compete in Thursday's final round. Photograph:
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
NC student makes it to National Spelling Bee finals in her 2nd year. How to watch
A middle school student from Concord is in the finals of the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Aishwarya Kallakuri, 14, will compete against eight other finalists Thursday night for the coveted Scripps Cup and a $50,000 cash prize. Kallakuri is an eighth-grade student at Valor Preparatory Academy in Concord. If she wins the 2025 competition, Kallakuri would be the first speller from North Carolina to do so since 1970, when Libby Childress of Winston-Salem won by correctly spelling 'croissant.' Kallakuri previously competed in the 2024 competition, tying for 23rd in the semifinals. This year, she clinched her spot among the nine finalists by spelling 'tallygalone,' which is a type of Australian fish. Eight students from North Carolina were among the 243 competitors from around the country in this year's contest in National Harbor, Maryland. Of those, four made it to the quarterfinals and, later, semifinals. Kallakuri made the semifinals along with three students from Wake County: Sach Akella of Cary, Holden Good of Raleigh and Kushi Gottimukkala of Raleigh. Akella and Gottimukkala were eliminated in the seventh round, tying for 41st. Good was eliminated in the ninth round, tying for 20th place. The finals of the 100th Scripps National Spelling Bee air live Thursday at 8 p.m. You can watch it over the air, on cable, satellite or online on ION.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
14-year-old from Charlotte advances to Scripps National Spelling Bee finals
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Several students from the Carolinas are competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee this week. Eight students from North Carolina and five students from South Carolina are competing in the 2025 competition, four of whom are from the Charlotte area. A full list of spellers can be found here. 14-year-old Aishwarya Kallakuri is the only speller from the Carolinas advancing to the finals. She is a student at Valor Prep Academy in Concord. Kallakuri made it to the national competition after competing in the Carolina Panthers Regional Spelling Bee back in March. The national competition, held in Washington, D.C. this year, began Tuesday. The finals are scheduled for Thursday at 8 p.m. Last year, Bruhat Soma, from Tampa, Florida, won the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Scripps National Spelling Bee celebrates 100 years: How to watch and what to expect
The Brief The 2025 bee marks the 100th anniversary of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, founded in 1925. A total of 243 spellers are competing this year, with finals airing Thursday, May 29, on ION from 8–10 p.m. EDT. This is the 97th competition; three years were missed due to World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic. OXON HILL, Md. - The Scripps National Spelling Bee is celebrating a century of competition, language, and academic excellence. First held in 1925, the event has grown from a newspaper-sponsored gathering to a global showcase of spelling talent, now hosted at a convention center in Oxon Hill, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. Although this is the bee's 100th anniversary, it is technically the 97th time the competition has taken place. The bee was canceled from 1943 to 1945 due to World War II and again in 2020 during the pandemic. Thanks to multiple years with co-champions, this year's winner will be the 110th champion. What's next The Scripps National Spelling Bee finals will air live on ION on Thursday, May 29, from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT. This is the final round of a three-day competition featuring the top young spellers from across the U.S. and abroad. Earlier rounds were streamed across Scripps-owned platforms—Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More, and the following schedule: Tuesday, May 27: Preliminary rounds streamed from 8 a.m. to 4:40 p.m. EDT Wednesday, May 28: Quarterfinals streamed from 8 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., followed by semifinals from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. The semifinals also aired on ION in a tape-delayed broadcast from 8 to 10 p.m. Dig deeper There are 243 spellers in the 2025 competition, including: Participants from all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. Spellers from Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands International competitors from Canada, Germany, Ghana, Kuwait, Nigeria, and the Bahamas Top contenders to watch: Faizan Zaki, 13, runner-up last year from Allen, Texas Aishwarya Kallakuri, 14, winner of the SpellPundit National Bee Avinav Prem Anand, 14, runner-up in the Words of Wisdom Bee Vedanth Raju, 12, younger brother of 2022 runner-up Vikram Raju Harini Murali, 13, returning finalist and sister of 2020 standout Navneeth Murali Tarini Nandakumar, 14, a five-time bee competitor from Round Rock, Texas Indian American spellers continue to lead the field, having won 29 of the past 35 championships since 1999. The backstory To qualify for the Scripps National Spelling Bee, students must win a regional spelling bee and meet eligibility requirements—they must be in eighth grade or below and no older than 15. The competition begins with two preliminary rounds: one oral spelling round and one multiple-choice vocabulary round. Spellers who advance then take a written spelling and vocabulary test, which determines who moves on to the quarterfinals. From the quarterfinals through the finals, all rounds are oral. If judges are unable to determine a winner through standard rounds, they may use a "spell-off" tiebreaker to crown the champion. All words used in the bee are selected from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary. By the numbers Prizes for the finalists: 1st place: $52,500 in cash, reference works from Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster, and a $1,000 school donation 2nd place: $25,000 3rd place: $15,000 4th place: $10,000 5th place: $5,000 6th place: $2,500 All other finalists: $2,000 The Source This article is based on Associated Press reporting and official information from the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Details include competition history, schedule, rules, and participant profiles, as well as prize structure and broadcasting info.
