Eighth Grader Wins National Spelling Bee

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

[Momaw Nadon]

The article states that the runner up was home-schooled.

It is unclear whether the winner was home-schooled.

Does anyone have a definitive answer?

[hole_n_one]

Does anyone have a definitive answer?

Eye due knot no.

[heleny]

No, he attends St. Mark's School and is from Dallas, TX. I would guess it's a private school, but I have no idea.

[MEG33]

Hats off to the spellers in the finals and the winners!

[yankeedame]

A 13-year-old eighth-grader from Dallas nailed "pococurante" ...

Spell it? Heck, I can't even pronounce it!
Poc'o'cur'ante? Po'co'cu'ran'te? Poco'cur'ante? Po'coc'u'ran'te?... Holy smokes, who comes up with these words??

[heleny]

http://www.smtexas.org/
"St. Mark's School of Texas is a non-sectarian, college-preparatory, independent day school for boys in grades one through twelve...."

[heleny]

Congratulations to Sai Gunturi and all the other contestants. It's difficult even to make it into the National Spelling Bee.

[Momaw Nadon]

Damn! I bet my mother and sister that a home-schooled kid would win the contest.

Oh well, I only lost 2 bucks.

[hole_n_one]

Individual Results for
Sai Gunturi

The Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas)

Round No.	Correct Spelling	Contestant's Spelling
1	sanguine	sanguine
2	(written round)	(advanced to round three)
3	insalubrious	insalubrious
4	Veracruzano	Veracruzano
5	marmoraceous	marmoraceous
6	mistassini	mistassini
7	solfeggio	solfeggio
8	piezochemistry	piezochemistry
9	voussoir	voussoir
10	halogeton	halogeton
11	dipnoous	dipnoous
12	gadarene	gadorene
13	peirastic	peirastic
14	rhathymia	rhathymia
15	pococurante	pococurante

Scripps

[heleny]

Holy smokes, who comes up with these words??

Scripps Howard runs the spelling bee. They print a booklet with words divided into three levels of difficulty. Otherwise, I guess they use an unabridged dictionary, since they have to be able to provide the pronunciation, definition, and an example of the word. Maybe etymology, too, but I'm not sure.

[CyberCowboy777]

If it is not a home taught student winning these things, it is a private taught student.

Both simply provide a better education over public schools.

[hole_n_one]

Speller No. 90, Sai R. Gunturi

Sponsor: The Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas) Age: 13, eighth grade School: St. Mark's School of Texas, Dallas, Texas Bio: Sai plays violin and studies Indian classical music. He placed first in the Hellenic history and Greek derivatives categories at the National Junior Classical League convention. Sai is making his fourth appearance at the national finals: In 2000 he tied for 32nd place, in 2001 he tied for 16th place, and in 2002 he tied for seventh place. Sai's sister, Nivedita, tied for eighth place in 1997.

---

[cgk]

I was trying to find that out as well. If he is, I can see why they would not mention it. If he isn't, why wouldn't they mention his school - as Props for the public education system? (unless he's in private school, don't want to vouch for their success either)...

[cgk]

"Poke Yer Auntie" is as close as I can come, (thinking of Bubba).

[Frankss]

I wonder how many of the 251 kids in the spelling bee were home schooled.

[cgk]

I see now he's a private school student. Thanks!

(I still read & post as I go, often to find answers later on) ;)

[heleny]

If it is not a home taught student winning these things, it is a private taught student.
Both simply provide a better education over public schools.

I don't want to get into a discussion about the numerous merits of homeschooling, but Spelling Bee winners must study the words on their own, regardless of what kind of school they attend. It helps if the contestants read a lot of books, have parents and friends who care about education, and perhaps study more languages, history, and science. Otherwise, studying for Spelling Bees has little to do with the quality of education (or lack therof) in private vs. public schools. 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.

[baseballfanjm]

I was rooting for the 9-year-old kid. After he got knocked out, I was just happy for whoever won it.

[DumpsterDiver]

Here ya go:

Main Entry: po·co·cu·ran·te
Pronunciation: click here
Etymology: Italian poco curante, caring little

Courtesy of http://www.m-w.com

[DannyTN]

I was thinking "Pox o Yer Aunt"