Riverside County student advances at National Spelling Bee
Thompson Middle School eighth-grader Shruti Amincorrectly spelled litany in today’s second round of the Scripps NationalSpelling Bee in National Harbor, Md., seeking to be among the maximum of 50spellers from the field of 278 to advance to Thursday’s semifinals.
“One of the things that really makes her fantastic is her familysupport,” Thompson Middle School Principal Dale B. Velk told City NewsService.
“Her sister Suchi was a spelling champion also. They practice together all of the time. I think it started off as kind of being fun and thenit just got bigger and bigger and bigger.
It just blossomed into this passionfor her. She really wants to win it.”One more round will be held today at the Gaylord National Resort andConvention Center, with a correct answer worth three points.
The first round — a 50-word computer spelling test, with 25 wordscounting toward the scores — was held Tuesday, with each correct answer worthone point. The test scores will be combined with the second- and third-roundresults to determine the semifinalists.
Shruti is 14, has been playing piano for seven years, enjoys playingtennis and camping, is president of her school’s community service club, vicepresident of its science club and treasurer of the National Junior HonorSociety.
“She is a fantastic representative of Thompson Middle School,” Velksaid. “Nicest kid, nicest family, always positive, always doing the rightthing, always making good choices. You couldn’t ask for a better student.”
