Raghav Dhandi, son of NLIT Associate Hari Dhandi and mother Janaki Kasiviswanathan, is headed to the 91st Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. from May 29-31st!
To earn his spot as Vermont’s number one speller, the 12-year-old had to first win a local spelling bee against fellow students here in Montpelier. Then, on March 21st, Raghav and 27 other regional Vermont winners competed against each other at the Vermont Scripps Spelling Bee in a single-elimination tournament. Contestants spelled round after round of words on stage until Raghav won by correctly spelling “slavering.”
In Washington, Raghav will compete against 518 other children in a 4-round, multi-day competition beginning May 29th. During the first three rounds the field will be narrowed down to the top 50, who will go on to compete in the Finals beginning May 31st.
Join us in cheering on our local favorite! The event is being broadcast on the following channels:
- Round 2 May 29th 9:15 a.m. ET on ESPN3
- Round 3 May 30th 8 a.m. ET on ESPN3
- The Finals May 31st 10 a.m. ET on ESPN2
- The Continuing Finals 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
The Scripps National Spelling Bee was started in Kentucky almost 100 years ago as a way to promote literacy and appreciation for the English language. The contest is for children below the age of 14. Last year Raghav was already showing promise when he won third place in Vermont at the age of just 11! Working towards a win, Raghav spends 30 minutes a day studying with his mother and reads 40 to 50 pages a night. When he grows up, Raghav says he would like to enroll at Harvard to become a nuclear physicist.
NLIT would like to congratulate Raghav and his proud parents, and send our very best wishes as he competes for the national championship!
Thanks to NLIT News for sharing this article.