He has a way with words
Bee-lieve it! Doon Public’s spelling ace to C-O-M-P-E-T-E in top U.S. contest
KITCHENER — “I actually wasn’t that good at spelling,” says Akshansh Ajay Kumar, 11.
Which is adorable because he’s among the top young spellers in North America. He departs Saturday for Washington, D.C., to compete against 290 other finalists in the famous Scripps National Spelling Bee.
He used hard work and tricks to qualify out of 11 million students.
Like other bee champions, Akshansh studies words, sometimes by memorizing them but also by delving into their origins in ancient or foreign languages. That’s the work part. It helps with medical and science terms.
Then he’ll do something weird. He’ll work a word into a tune that he’ll sing to help him remember. That’s the trick. He sings a ditty to demonstrate: “I’m a connoisseur of food and wine,” it goes.
It helps that Akshansh likes to compete. He’s never competed in a bee and when Doon Public School told him about it, right away he told his teacher: I’m going to Washington. And so he is, after winning a regional championship held in London.
“I could tell that he wanted to go far,” said his Grade 6 teacher, Greg Miller. “I didn’t realize how far he was going to go.”
Doon Public’s Alissa Marjanovic, 12, just missed the finals, runner-up to Akshansh at the regional bee. “He’s amazing,” she said. “It was really fun but I was also really nervous.”
Seven Canadians have qualified for the bee finals. Classmate Fawz Hashmi, 12, has
Any time I introduce a new topic, he’s already 10 steps ahead of everyone else. — GREG MILLER, AKSHANSH AJAY KUMAR’S TEACHER
helped Akshansh study words. Watching his friend, he’s learned that success takes effort. “You need to work really, really hard to achieve your goals,” Fawz said.
As confident as he seems, Akshansh still gets nervous when he competes. “I just feel so stressed and rooted to the spot,” he said. “So what I do is I take deep breaths and I calm myself down.”
It’s the same poise and determination that’s made him strong at math, good with a violin, and generally ahead of his peers.
“Any time I introduce a new topic, he’s already 10 steps ahead of everyone else,” his teacher said.