The 2009 National Spelling Bee winner is – Kavya Shivashankar
“Spelling has been such a big part of my life,” says the Scripps Spelling Bee 2009 winner Kavya Shivashankar to the Associated Press.
The new champion dreams of becoming a neurosurgeon, but, at the same time, feels that nothing can truly replace spelling. Shivashankar will most likely go on to compete in the International Brain Bee.
The 13-year-old Kansas girl who smiled after spelling every word took home over $40,000 in cash and prizes, as well as the desired spelling champion’s trophy Thursday night in Washington. Shivashankar made four tries to win over the 10 remaining finalists.
According to Associated Press, her father, Mirle Shivashankar bragged that while his daughter may not put her competitive mindset on display “she still has that smile,” a trait that he calls it her “quality.”
Kavya Shivashankar is now the seventh Indian-American to win the championship in 11 years, including two back-to-back youngsters who also aspired to be brain surgeons.
The 1999 winner featured in a spelling documentary Spellbound Nupur Lala,was Shivashankar’s role model. Lala is currently working as a research assistant in a neuro science lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Shivashankar traveled from her hometown Olathe, Kan., three times prior to the 2009 spelling bee. The word that took Shivashankar to victory was until “Laodicean,” a phrase referring lukewarm or indifferent feelings toward religion.
The 2009 Spelling Bee Winner used the technique of writing the letters into her palm with her finger while saying them aloud.
Mirle Shivashankar told the AP that his daughter’s victory was “the moment we’ve been waiting for” and “a dream come true.”
The family plans to celebrate her victory with a birthday party, as Kavya had been too busy preparing for the spelling bee to celebrate her actual birthday, which was last week.
The 2009 National Spelling Bee runner-up Tim Ruiter from Centreville, Va. told the Associated Press that he “was just racking my brain for anything possible that could help” in reference to his missed word “Maecenas,” which is defined as “generous patron especially of literature or art” according to Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary.
Ruiter joked that to the AP that he would start spelling “Maecenas” in his sleep.
A record-breaking 293 students came to spell in the 82nd annual bee, which was aired on television for a fourth year.
Our Take:
Congratulations on the 2009 National Spelling Bee Champion title Kavya Shivashankar!
The tremendous amount of determination and hard work it takes to prepare for the national bee seems immeasurable to me. I think a birthday party is exactly what Shivashankar deserves after a win like this.
For that matter, every participant in this bee deserves some kind of reward when they return home after training for so long, before they return to the dictionary once more to prepare for the 2010 spelling bee.
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Mike Tyson´s Daughter supportet by Police
PHOENIX (AP) — Police in Phoenix say boxer Mike Tyson’s 4-year-old daughter is on life support after she was found with her neck on a treadmill cable.
Police Sgt. Andy Hill said the “tragic accident” happened Monday morning at Tyson’s home when the girl’s 7-year-old brother found her on a treadmill with her neck on a cable attached to the exercise machine.
The boy told the girl’s mother from another room. She took the girl off the cable, called 911 and tried to revive her.
Hill said the girl is now in “extremely critical condition” and on life support.
Hill said Mike Tyson was out of town but returned to Phoenix immediately after learning of the accident.
Calls to Tyson’s representatives were either not returned or not answered.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Via: Ap
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