88th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 88th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland[2] from May 24–28, 2015.[3] Students competed for a prize valued at $38,600 coming from various companies.[4]

88th Scripps National Spelling Bee
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DateMay 24–28, 2015
LocationGaylord National Resort & Convention Center, National Harbor, Maryland
WinnerCo-winners:
  • Gokul Venkatachalam
  • Vanya Shivashankar
Residence
SponsorSt. Louis Post-Dispatch (Venkatachalam)
The Olathe News (Shivashankar)
Winning word
  • nunatak (Venkatachalam)
  • Scherenschnitte (Shivashankar)
No. of contestants283[1]
PronouncerJacques Bailly
Preceded by87th Scripps National Spelling Bee
Followed by89th Scripps National Spelling Bee

Competition

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For the second year in a row the outcome was a tie, with Gokul Venkatachalam and Vanya Shivashankar ending up as co-winners once the Bee's dictionary was emptied. Vanya was the first sibling of a previous winner to win; her sister Kavya won in 2009. Vanya Shivashankar from Olathe, Kansas (in her fifth appearance at the Bee) and Gokul Venkatachalam from Chesterfield, Missouri (who finished third the prior year) won the bee, making a total of thirteenth of the past seventeen bees up to and including it to have had an Indian-American champion.[5] Other finalists included Cole Shafer-Ray, Snehaa Ganesh Kumar, Siddharth Krishnakumar, Dev Jaiswal, Tejas Muthusamy, Paul Keaton, Sylvie Lamontagne, and Siyona Mishra.[6]

There were 283 spellers this year.[1] 285 were scheduled to participate (2 did not attend), 146 girls and 139 boys, ranging from age 9 to 15. 67% attended public schools.[7] Forty-nine spellers from the original field made it to the final day of competition.[8][9]

Word list championship round

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References

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  1. ^ a b Steinmetz, Katy (27 May 2015). 7 Things You Should Know About the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee, TIME
  2. ^ "Can I purchase tickets to the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee?". Scripps National Spelling Bee. Archived from the original on 2015-05-04. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  3. ^ "When is the Scripps National Spelling Bee?". Scripps National Spelling Bee. Archived from the original on 2012-11-23. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  4. ^ Eric Gorski. ""Sympatric" is music to Colorado State Spelling Bee champion". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  5. ^ "National Spelling Bee ends in a tie for second year in a row". Fox News. 2006-10-01. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  6. ^ Nuckols, Ben (28 May 2015). "Ten make finals of 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee". Associated Press. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  7. ^ 2015 Bee Week Guide, Scripps National Spelling Bee
  8. ^ Finalists (2015), spellingbee.com, Retrieved 26 May 2016
  9. ^ (27 May 2015). National Spelling Bee field cut to 49 semifinalists, Chicago Tribune