Indian-origin NY boy enters Scripps National Spelling Bee final round
By ANIFriday, June 4, 2010
NEW YORK - Indian origin boy Arvind Mahankali, 10, of Queens, New York has entered the decisive round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The fifth-grader from the Forest Hills Montessori School spelled “manciple” (servant or steward) and “pergelisol” (similar to permafrost) to land himself a spot in the next league.
Arvind’s competitor, Thomas Dumbach, 14, of Whitestone, Queens, an eighth-grader at Hunter College High School in Manhattan, also spelled his two words correctly.
However, he was eliminated on the basis of total points from an earlier written test.
“I knew them both. I feel really happy,” the New York Daily News quoted Mahankali, as saying.
He added: “I prepared a lot, I read a lot and my parents helped me a lot.” (ANI)