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McCullough Junior High teen advances to Scripps National Spelling Bee

By: Houston Public Media
| Published 04/04/2016

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HOUSTON - After competing in 14 rounds with 53 total spellers from 42 Texas counties, Shourav Dasari, a Spring resident and seventh grader at McCullough Jr. High in Conroe ISD, and Nihar Janga, an Austin resident and fifth grader at River Ridge Elementary in Leander ISD were awarded co-champion titles from the 2016 Houston Public Media Spelling Bee. The two spellers will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee, May 22-27, 2016 in Washington, D.C., with an all-expenses-paid trip to “Bee Week.”

“Guaguanche” was the winning word for Dasari and “snotziekte” was the winning word for Janga in the Houston bee, the nation’s second largest local spelling bee. The bee went on for more than four hours and was broadcast live on Houston Public Media TV 8 and streamed live online.

“I’m excited and proud to represent Houston,” said Dasari. “I hope I can do my best in Washington, D.C.”

This is Dasari’s second year to compete at the Houston Public Media Spelling Bee. He tied for third place in the 2014 Houston Public Media Spelling Bee.

“I’m very proud of myself. I learned a lot of new spellings and I learned that if I put my mind to it, work really hard and not get distracted, I can achieve success,” said Janga.

This is Janga’s second year at the Houston Public Media Spelling Bee and he came in third place in 2015.

This will be the first year that both compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Dasari will be speller No. 233 at the Scripps National Spelling Bee and Janga, No. 232. They will join hundreds of contestant spellers from across the country at the 89th national bee, aiming for the victory and prizes worth more than $30,000. The bee will broadcast live nationally on ESPN during “Bee Week.”

Participating spellers in the 2016 Houston Public Media Spelling Bee included 25 girls and 28 boys ranging in age from 9 to 14 and in grades third through eighth, representing 1,130 schools in Texas.

As part of the organization’s commitment to education, Houston Public Media conducts, hosts and broadcasts this major spelling bee competition annually. Houston Public Media’s TV 8 is the first public broadcast television station in the nation to conduct and broadcast a Scripps-affiliated local spelling bee and this marks the eighth year that they have staged this prestigious academic competition.

“We are so proud of all the students that competed in our spelling bee today – they’ve all worked so hard to get here,” said Lisa Trapani Shumate, associate vice president and general manager of Houston Public Media. “It’s an honor to conduct and televise this highly competitive academic competition that showcases so many of their talents beyond vocabulary and grammar.”

For more information on the Houston Public Media Spelling Bee, visit www.houstonpublicmedia.org/spellingbee.

Photo caption: The 2016 Houston Public Media Spelling Bee co-champions celebrate their victory with representatives from Houston Public Media. From (L to R) Connie Hill, Houston Public Media’s director of interactive education; Lisa Shumate, Houston Public Media’s associate vice president and general manager; co-champion Nihar Janga from Austin; co-champion Shourav Dasari from McCullough Jr. High; Ernie Manouse, Houston Public Media’s content producer; and Capella Tucker, Houston Public Media’s, director of content)

Photo courtesy of Craig Hartley.

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