Karthik Nemmani: 5 Things On The Winner Of The 91st Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee
June 1, 2018
Karthik Nemmani: 5 Things On The Winner Of The 91st Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee
The National Spelling Bee has drawn to a close and we have our winner: Karthik Nemmani! Here’s everything you need to know about this champion speller!
At the beginning of the day, 41 youngsters had made it to the finals of the 91st annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Maryland, but only one middle schooler can be the winner! And we just got our champ! His name is Karthik Nemmani! Here’s everything you need to know about this brilliant young student and this prestigious honor!
1) Karthik is from McKinney, Texas a small town outside Dallas. And he wasn’t the only Texan who made it all the way to the finals, according to the Dallas News! He was joined on the stage by Naysa Modi of Frisco, Rohan Raja of Irving and Abhijay Kodali of Flower Mound. It looks like there’s serious spelling going on in The Lone Star State!
2) In order to win, he had to spell “koinonia.” And if curious what that means, it’s a Christian fellowship or body of believers, according to Merriam-Webster.
3) He’ll be taking home the $40,000 and the championship trophy after claiming the win! And that’s not all! He will also receive a $25,000 cash prize and a complete reference library from Merriam-Webster. Not to mention trips to New York and Hollywood to talk to press and a pizza party for his school! And we can’t forget bragging rights, of course! Not to bad a reward for doing some sensational spelling!
4) Karthik had to beat 515 other incredibly talented students to claim this honor. In order to qualify, all those kids had to correctly spell 2 rounds of words on stage. Afterwards, they had to get the highest scores a preliminary spelling and vocabulary test.
#Speller471 Karthik Nemmani is the 2018 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion. Congratulations! #SpellingBee pic.twitter.com/ndb0uGCNPK
— NationalSpellingBee (@ScrippsBee) June 1, 2018
5) Apparently Karthik naturally took to the spelling competition! Why? By his own admission, the 14-year-old “doesn’t collaborate well.” We gotta admire his ability to recognize that at such a young age!