Wild Card Contender From Texas Wins The 2018 National Spelling Bee

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Photo Credit: Scripps National Spelling Bee via Facebook

On Thursday, May 31, 14-year-old Karthik Nemmani stunned the world when he beat crowd favorite and veteran competitor Naysa Modi, to win the coveted Scripps National Spelling Bee championship. His winning word? Koinonia, an obscure word of Greek origin, which means “an intimate spiritual or Christian communion.” The Texas eighth grader’s opportunity came unexpectedly in the first championship round after Naysa mixed up the single and double “s” in bewusstseinslage, a German-derived word which means “a state of consciousness or a feeling devoid of sensory components.”

Karthik’s victory was particularly poignant given that in any other year, the teenager from Scoggins Middle School in McKinney, TX would not have been eligible for the finals. He did not, after all, win his county or even regional spelling bee. In fact, it was Naysa who had defeated him and other competitors in March at the Golden Chick Dallas Regional Spelling Bee.

Spelling Bee runner-up Naysa Modi (Photo Credit: Scripps National Bee via Facebook

However, Karthik managed to get a wild card entry thanks to a new program called the RSVBee, which allowed spellers who had won their school bee, or previously competed on the national stage, to qualify for the competition. The program, which added 238 competitors for a total record-breaking 515 contestants to the national tournament, gave competent spellers like Karthik a second chance at showing their prowess. "It's [the RSVBee has] been great from the speller perspective. We see the program as a way to level the playing field," said Bee spokesperson Valerie Miller.

In addition to the bragging rights, Karthik also received a trophy and prizes worth $40,000, including $25,000 in cash, trips to New York and Los Angeles for appearances on national television, a reference library from Merriam-Webster, and a pizza party for his school. The teenager, who arranged block letters to spell “horse” when he was three and won his first spelling bee at age five, is the 14th consecutive spelling bee winner of Indian descent. Though Naysa, who has been vying for the championship for the past four years, did not get to fulfill her dream, she did go home with $30,000 in prize money. Moreover, the seventh-grader still has a chance to take home the trophy next year!

The sixteen finalists (Photo Credit: Scripps National Bee via Facebook)

Now celebrating its 91st year, the National Spelling Bee, which attracted over 11 million kids, or 31 percent of all eligible students, in 2018 has come a long way from its humble beginnings. Preparations for the grueling elimination-based tournament begin in earnest long before the competitions, with serious contenders spending as much as four hours a day poring over dictionaries and word etymology lists. Some, like this year’s champion Karthik, even hire “spelling coaches” — past winners and participants of the bee — to help them master the vocabulary.

Resources: USAtoday.com, guardian.co.uk, news.yahoo.com

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197 Comments
  • howler123
    howler123almost 4 years
    On December16 2020 I won my school spelling bee I won on the word trophy though it was a not too hard word it meant a lot to me and you should've seen my other classmates reactions it was hard because it was on zoom and most of the other kids on the meet got out because their laptop kept freezing and the judges didn't hear the letters or they didn't hear the right letters so I think I got lucky,and i'm happy that I won I studied hard and and now I'm going to the Johnson County local spelling bee😀.
    • ch1ld27
      ch1ld27over 3 years
      Good job! It’s great you won the spelling bee! 👍🏻
    • lpsbrooklyn13
      lpsbrooklyn13almost 4 years
      Cool
      • pastelea
        pasteleaalmost 4 years
        Wow!Good job!👍🏻
        • gold3nglare
          gold3nglarealmost 4 years
          I have noticed something. usually, it's the south asian people who are in spelling bees. woohoo! Go South Asians!
          • 29zabraham
            29zabrahamabout 4 years
            Nice 👍🏾
            • 1lollipop
              1lollipopabout 4 years
              Wow, nice job!😁
              • mountaingoat
                mountaingoatover 4 years
                Shows that anyone could win with hard work and a bit of luck
                • tywedfgwg
                  tywedfgwgover 4 years
                  outstanding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
                  • heavytoothpaste
                    heavytoothpastealmost 5 years
                    great job!
                    • rgleason16
                      rgleason16almost 5 years
                      like wow gr8 job kids