3-08-2024 7:59pm

6th grader from Roscoe Middle School wins Regional Spelling Bee

6th grader Ananya Joshi from Roscoe Middle School taking pictures after winning the 40th Annual BOONE-WINNEBAGO Regional Spelling Bee. (L-R) mother Indu Joshi, sister Avani Joshi, winner Ananya Joshi, and teacher Dana Gugliuzza

The winner of the 40th Annual BOONE-WINNEBAGO Regional Spelling Bee was 6th grader Ananya Joshi from Roscoe Middle School, with the word 'ensued.' Her coach/sponsor at Roscoe Middle School was Dana Gugliuzza. After the contest, she told Ananya, "Maybe tomorrow we should ask the class if they can spell 'ensued.'" Ananya then followed up by saying one of her classmates told her, "I'll be so mad if you don't win." When asked about Ananya, classmate Jaxon Bone said, “Ananya is nice, has lots of friends, and is very smart.”

Ananya Joshi’s sister Avani Joshi was also the Regional Spelling Bee winner in 2019 and 2021, and placed 7th in the National Spelling Bee in 2021.

Winning the 40th Annual BOONE-WINNEBAGO Regional Spelling Bee gets you a cool trophy plus a chance to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee with a 6-night stay at the Gaylord National Resort in Fort Washington, Maryland just outside of Washington, DC, airfare out to the Scripps National Spelling Bee with one parent, a $400 gift card, the Samuel Louis Sugarman Award, one-year subscription to Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online (the Bee's official dictionary), one-year Britannica Online Premium, one-year subscription to Epic Family, one-year subscription to Tynker plus eight 1-on-1 online coding classes.

At the end, Ananya went several rounds one-on-one with 8th grader Julia Kurien from Thurgood Marshall School, until Julia misspelled 'galapeno.' Ananya correctly spelled it as 'jalapeno' and then her winning word 'ensued.'

As part of her strategy, Ananya wrote out each word five times with her finger on the back of her Roscoe Middle School nameplate. She spoke clearly, cheerfully, and confidently.

The final results from Thursday, March 7, 2024 were:

1st: 6th grader Ananya Joshi from Roscoe Middle School
2nd: 8th grader Julia Kurien from Thurgood Marshall School
3rd: 8th grader Aaron Austin from Harlem Middle School

Roscoe News editor Michael McGinnis spoke with the family following Thursday’s spelling bee.

Sister Avani says about the week at the Scripps National Spelling Bee: "It's like nothing else. It's like a week of celebration, it's not just spelling, it's just, like, celebrating education and academics."

One of the spelling words was 'gridiron,' usually describing a football field. Avani says, "Scripps incorporates a wide variety of words. So it's not just from a certain field or extreme academic language, because they use something you can use anywhere."

Mom Indu Joshi says, "It's like a team for our family. It becomes like a family affair." She adds that learning so many words (4,000 are on the list) has improved Avani's vocabulary and writing.

While the spelling bee was happening, Ashutosh their dad was in India, but by 5:30 a.m. India time he was already calling them to find out the status. Afterwards, Mom answered the phone and said, "You want to talk to the winner?" Which he did. “That’s great!” Ashutosh said.

Next, Ananya's family goes to Washington DC on May 26 for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Congrats to Ananya Joshi and her family for this wonderful accomplishment and for giving us some time after the 40th Annual BOONE-WINNEBAGO Regional Spelling Bee last Thursday night.

Thank you to Denise Rux from ROE4, and Roscoe News editor Michael McGinnis for the information and pictures.

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