After finishing in 22nd place in the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee, Rosa International Middle School sixth grader Shruthika Padhy is preparing for her second year of competition.
Almost one year ago, Cherry Hill fifth grader Shruthika Padhy stepped up to the microphone at the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee, with thousands of people around the United States watching on the ESPN3 online streaming channel.
Shruthika started the competition as one of 285 contestants. After three preliminary rounds, she was one of just 45 contestants to advance to the finals.
Shruthika’s word in the finals was tyee, a type of salmon. Shruthika went on to misspell the word, t-a-h-i. However, her performance in the early rounds of the competition was good enough to net her a 22nd place finish.
Shruthika, now a sixth grader at Rosa International Middle School, is preparing to return to the Scripps National Spelling Bee for the second time. This year’s competition begins on Tuesday, May 30, in Washington D.C.
Shruthika said she was thrilled when she advanced to the finals last year and feels she gained a lot of valuable experience during her first competition.
“I know how everything works at Scripps now,” she said.
Camden County does not have a regionally sponsored competition to send a spelling champion to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Last year, Scripps gave Shruthika’s school, Bret Harte Elementary, permission to sponsor its own champion. This year, Scripps again allowed Shruthika’s school to sponsor its school champion for the bee. Shruthika won the school championship earlier this year.
Last year, Shruthika received assistance from several sponsors to pay for the spelling bee’s entry fee. Shruthika is again getting help from sponsors such as Mathnasium, Kumon Math and Reading Center and C2Education.
Shruthika has spent the past few weeks gearing up for the bee. She has made some changes with the way she is studying compared to last year.
“Last year, I was testing out all kinds of ways that I could study,” Shruthika said. “This year, I really know what works. Right now, I find that flash cards work the best for me, so that’s what I’m doing.”
Shruthika isn’t seeing any major expectations for this year’s bee. She hopes to improve on last year’s performance, but plans to take the competition one round at a time.
“You should never expect to do anything, because luck plays a big factor,” Shruthika said, “but I’m hoping to place better than last year.”
“I’m going to try to study more since it’s getting closer,” she added. “I’m trying to get as much I can in before the bee.”
Shruthika said she is very grateful for all of the support she’s received from the Cherry Hill community. She also thanked Rosa principal George Guy and assistant principal Lynne Vosbikian for their support. She is looking forward to representing her hometown once again on the national stage.
“I’d like to thank the community and my school for all my support,” she said.
The 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee’s preliminary rounds will take place on May 30 and 31, with the finals scheduled for June 1. For more information on the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee, visit www.spellingbee.com.
