Kavya Shivashankar is the national spelling bee champ
May 26, 2009. WASHINGTON - Cool and collected, Kavya Shivashankar wrote out every word on her palm and always ended with a smile. The 13-year-old Kansas girl saved the biggest smile for last, when she rattled off the letters to “Laodicean” to become the nation’s spelling champion.
The budding neurosurgeon from Olathe, Kan., outlasted 11 finalists May 26 to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee, taking home more than $40,000 in cash and prizes and, of course, the huge champion’s trophy.
After spelling the winning word, which means lukewarm or indifferent in religion or politics, Kavya got huge hugs from her father, mother and little sister.
Kavya was making her fourth appearance at the bee, having finishing 10th, eighth and fourth over the last three years. She enjoys playing the violin, bicycling, swimming and learning Indian classical dance, and her role model is Nupur Lala, the 1999 champion featured in the documentary “Spellbound.”
courtesey - http://www.msn.com
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