Eighth Grader Wins National Spelling Bee

AP via Yahoo! ^ | Thursday, May 29, 2003 | By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press Writer

[Momaw Nadon]

WASHINGTON - A 13-year-old eighth-grader from Dallas nailed "pococurante" to win the 76th Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee on Thursday.

It was Sai Gunturi's fourth time in the competition.

"I studied it," a beaming Sai said of the word after winning the contest, $12,000 and other prizes. "That's why I was kind of laughing." The word means indifferent or nonchalant.

Sai plays the violin and studies Indian classical music. His father, Sarma, is a chemical engineer and his mother, Lakshmi, is a homemaker.

Last year, Sai tied for seventh place. He tied for 16th place in 2001 and tied for 32nd place in 2000. His sister, Nivedita, tied for eighth place in 1997.

"Actually, I started studying in fourth grade and then I guess it's kind of like cumulative study all the way up to here," he said after surviving the grueling, 15-round contest by spelling such words as "rhathymia," "dipnoous" and "voussoir."

Evelyn Blacklock, a 14-year-old eighth-grader who is home-schooled in Tuxedo Park, N.Y., was the runner-up.

Earlier Thursday, Evelyn not only had to spell one of her words, but got to fully experience its meaning.

She stepped to the microphone at the sound of "tenebrosity," which means darkness, and began to question the announcer about its meaning and origins.

An unspoken answer came when the stage mysteriously went dark.

Unfazed, Evelyn lifted the numbered yellow square hanging from her neck and scribbled on the back of it with her finger before spelling, slowly and correctly, as the hotel ballroom's lights crept back on.

She later agonized over "anaphylaxis," a hypersensitivity caused by contact with a sensitizing agent, and "ganache," a sweet chocolate mixture used in baking, to advance another round.

The cable sports network ESPN provided live coverage.

In taped remarks, Education Secretary Rod Paige congratulated the 84 competitors who were still standing when the competition resumed Thursday, telling them they should be proud of making it to the finals.

"No matter whether you go out in the first round or become the next champ, your presence here spells only one thing," Paige said, then added: "S-u-c-c-e-s-s, success."

Jane Warunek, a 12-year-old eighth-grader in Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich., got a second chance after appealing her exit in the third round because she gave an alternate spelling of "diaconate." She later succumbed by misspelling "cernuous," which means drooping.

Some students moved closer to the final round by conquering such mouthfuls as "fissiparous," "platyhelminth" and "matripotestal."

Others drew the clang of the judge's bell after getting a word wrong. Among the stumpers were "preterlabent," "filipendulous" and "escheator."

There were plenty sighs of relief, high-fives and clenched fists jabbed into the air by the students who spelled correctly, and frowns and shrugs by those who were escorted off stage after their errors.

The event opened Wednesday with a field of 251 youngsters, ranging in age from 8 to 15. Each got one word to spell; 175 got them right.

Next came a written spelling test, introduced last year as a way to speed up the contest but ensure that every student gets at least once chance at the microphone. This year's bee is the largest ever, and spellers now tend to take more time before answering.

The exam narrowed the field to 84, who made the cut by missing 10 words or fewer.

Last year, it took 11 rounds to declare a winner, but that number has varied widely over the past decade. In 1997, victory came in the 23rd round.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I believe he attends a private school.

A home schooler takes second place for the second year in a row. That much is certain.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I wouldn't give his private school the credit for his own determination and hard work.

Excellent point and well stated.

[Squantos]

Evelyn Blacklock, a 14-year-old eighth-grader who is home-schooled in Tuxedo Park, N.Y., was the runner-up

Whooo Hoooo !! Home School rules !!....Stay Safe !

[cgk]

Regarding your tagline--Bob Geldof said that? When? Where? In what context?

Yep, he sure did! (I cleaned it up, a bit and quoted Scarborough's paraphrase...) See why below... :)

"You'll think I'm off my trolley when I say this, but the Bush Administration is the most radical - in a positive sense - in its approach to Africa since Kennedy," Geldof, the organiser of the 1985 Live Aid concert, said on Tuesday at the start of his UNICEF-sponsored return visit to Ethiopia.

He compared Mr Bush favourably with his predecessor, Bill Clinton, who he said talked passionately about Africa, but did "f*** all".

Here's a link to the thread on the article I found today.

Geldof Back in Ethiopia (and Praises Bush) I heard about it last night, and was also pretty amazed, which is why I stuck it in my tag line. "Love Like a Rocket" was one of my old favorite songs and I thought I'd have to write him off like Bono.

[paulklenk]

I love, love, love the spelling bee! Those kids are adorable, smart, and hard working.

Years ago, I used to use winning words as my computer password. No one would ever guess it; plus, even if they overheard me saying it out loud, they'd never recognize the word, let alone be able to spell it.

Now, of course, it's foolish to use actual words as passwords, because computers can discover it by copying the encrypted version and comparing it endlessly to lists of hundreds of thousands of words until they get a match. Every password should contain upper and lower case letters, plus numbers and symbols.

[jagrmeister]

Congratulations to the winner and to ESPN for being willing to use some of their broadcast time to spotlight academic achievement.

[Dajjal]

Holy smokes, who comes up with these words??

Did they never sharee you ebro at skol, you antiabecedarian?

Apologies to James Joyce. :D

[Robert Drobot]

"Evelyn Blacklock, a 14-year-old eighth-grader who is home-schooled in Tuxedo Park, N.Y., was the runner-up.

[chance33_98]

It is unclear whether the winner was home-schooled.

Perhaps not, but I would guess most of his studying for this he did at home....

[ventana]

How long ago was this OldFriend? V's wife.

[Forgiven_Sinner]

"Probably a private Catholic school. I'm guessing all the kids from public school were discqualified when asked to spell constitution. I'm sure they wouldn't have ever seen or heard it before. "

I've got some good news for you; our public school district north of Peoria, Dunlap requires students to pass a Constitution test to graduate from 8th grade.

So all is not lost.

[Dudoight]

The winner is not home schooled. He attends St. Mark's School in Dallas. My sons attended this school as do now my grandsons. It is a wonderful school. But this kid's talent belongs to him, in my opinion, not the school.

[OldFriend]

Mid 90s.......but now our public high school is dumbed down completely and the drug use in our rural area is out of control. Pretty darn sad. All the best teachers left too....

[babble-on]

do you ever wonder if maybe spelling bee success might not be the best guide to the quality of someone's education?

[Emile]

If Sai Gunturi had attended a public school, he would still need to apply himself outside of class to learn the words; I wouldn't give his private school the credit for his own determination and hard work.

True enough. But isn't it just possible that the more rigorous the school academic environment, the more prepared, disciplined and motivated the student is to study and apply himself? In this respect, I believe the school deserves at least some indirect credit for the results. At the very least, it would sure explain the presence of non-government school children at the top of these competitions well out of proportion to their numbers in the general population.

[Capt.YankeeMike]

ref: your post #17. PHOOEY and BALONEY and MALARKEY. Private schooled kids and home schooled kids blow the public scrools out of the water in every category.

[eleni121]

I was runner up from my district twice (2nd and 3rd grades)and I still remember the words that tripped me up: granary---which I spelled "grainery" and independence which I spelled "independance".

I do not remember why I didn't try out again but I am still haunted by what might have been.

[CyberCowboy777]

Unfortunately you overlook the very purpose of public schools vs. private/home schools.

Public schools do not teach to learn, they do not teach to think. You are a number, a dollar amount and they must cram a certain amount of information into your head by graduation. Some will achieve to the low standards of public schools, others will blossom in college, most will become average citizens who don't vote and never realize the potential inside. The breakdown of our society shows this clearly.

You can spray whatever perfume you want on public ed. as it is today, it still stinks.

Our schools have been scientifically designed to prevent over-education from happening...The average American [should be] content with their humble role in life, because they're not tempted to think about any other role."
- William Harris, U.S. Commissioner of Education, 1889

[sharktrager]

Honestly, the trend is that these kids' parents spend large amounts of the educational time on these areas, specifically for the competitions. I really don't see that as indicative of quality.

[tom h]

The winner was not homeschooled but he definitely comes from a traditional family -- father is an engineer, mother at home governing the day-to-day affairs of the family.

What is more telling is that you never hear that these children come from liberal families. Have you ever heard that the "winner's father is an environmental activist, and his mother is a feminist lawyer"?