At 6, he’s the bee’s knees in spelling
Home-schooled Akash Vukoti of San Angelo is the youngest contestant at this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee. The first-grader is only 6.
The 285 spellers who qualified for this year’s bee range in age from 6 to 14 and are almost evenly divided among boys (144) and girls (141). They hail from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as the Bahamas, Canada, Europe, Ghana, Guam, Jamaica, Japan, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In all, 34 spellers on Wednesday morning missed their first-round word, eliminating them from further competition.
The remaining 251 contestants return Thursday afternoon to the stage of the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center ballroom, just outside of Washington, D.C., to continue spelling.
Things are going well so far for Akash, who correctly spelled his word — inviscate — on Wednesday. He spent Tuesday being interviewed by the media and went to a news conference with top Scripps representatives, said Krishna Vukoti, Akash’s father.
Akash also was chosen to film a commercial to promote the Spelling Bee and was able to interview four other spellers, which will be posted on social media, Krishna Vukoti said.
Akash, who came to San Angelo with his family in August last year, appeared on the “Steve Harvey Show” this spring and was featured on the Harvey-hosted “Little Big Shots” because of his spelling prowess. He has been competing in spelling bees since 2012, when he was 2.
He loves the attention and is having a good time, his father said.
The bee’s preliminaries were being broadcast live Wednesday on ESPN3. The early final rounds will be broadcast live Thursday on ESPN2 and the later rounds will be broadcast that night on ESPN. The champion speller — or spellers — will be crowned Thursday night during a prime-time broadcast on ESPN.
This year’s winner will take home $40,000 in cash, a trophy and other prizes.