23-05-2025
OHS junior places 3rd in UIL Spelling and Vocabulary contest
May 22—Shijay Sivakumar, the middle school spelling whiz who made the Scripps National Spelling Bee, is now at Odessa High School and placed third in the state UIL Spelling and Vocabulary contest earlier this week in Austin.
Javier Ruiz, who teaches English 4 (seniors) and coaches Academic Decathlon and UIL Spelling at OHS, said Sivakumar is an amazing young man.
"He handles his rigorous school load plus devotes time to band and UIL. He is very talented! I hope we get to work together again next year!" Ruiz said.
This was Sivakumar's first time making state in the contest and he said his spelling bee preparation in middle school helped him get there.
"It was just something for me to ... exercise my interest with spelling," said Sivakumar, now 17.
He added that he didn't know about the UIL Spelling and Vocabulary contest previously.
"But through high school, I just found out about it, and I started competing," Sivakumar said.
According to the UIL website, each year, the UIL Spelling and Vocabulary Contest is based on a different vocabulary list provided by UIL and consists of a three-part test.
Part I: A fifteen-minute section of 30 multiple-choice items focused on vocabulary and proofreading.
Part II and III: The hand-written spelling of 70 words pronounced aloud to contestants, as well as a tiebreaker section of 20 additional pronounced words, the site detailed.
Sivakumar, who will be a senior next year, added that he is pleased with how he did.
He added that Ruiz helped him and set everything up.
"He told me that he hadn't gone to state in 20 years doing this, and no one ever from the school has made state. So I told myself, okay, I'm going to be the first. And I told myself, I was going to put OHS on the map and do it for him, try and make state, and I did that, so I'm glad, and I also medaled at state, so I'm pretty satisfied," Sivakumar said.
Sivakumar is in the International Baccalaureate program at OHS.
"I love the IB program. Actually, my friends, we've all gotten super close through the IB program, all of us having the same classes together. ... I couldn't do it without ... my friends and teachers. They've been my biggest supporters throughout everything this year," he added.
He said preparing for these contests teaches you a lot of discipline and work ethic.
He could try the contest again next year, but he's not sure if he'll have the time with all his IB exams.
"I'm going to ponder it (and) see if I have the time to do it before making a decision on that," Sivakumar said.
The competition was held at UT Austin and he had a really good time touring the campus so he hopes to go there, Harvard or Brown in no particular order.
His sister Shreeya, an eighth grader at the Young Women's Leadership Academy, will be competing in the Scripps bee next week in Washington, D.C. The competition starts May 27.
Sivakumar wanted to make a shout-out to her, sending his support and hoping she does "the best she can."
He also thanked Ruiz.
"He's been ... a big help with all the travel and logistics. I'm glad I was able to make state for him, and I wanted to shout out the IB program. They've helped me so much. My friends and teachers, honestly, I couldn't do any of this without them. (I'm) just so blessed to have all of them in my life," Sivakumar said.
