2018 South Asian Spelling Bee kicks off with 4 regionals

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The 2018 South Asian Spelling Bee traveled to four cities making stops at Chicago, Illinois; San Francisco, California; Washington D.C. and Charlotte, North Carolina, to find new and talented spellers in the Indian American community in the regional areas.

In Chicago, Snehal Choudhury (13) of Massillon, Ohio was the winner while Maya Jadhav (9) of Fitchburg, Wisconsin, was the first runner up.

In San Francisco, Rishik Gandhsri (12) of San Jose, California the winner while Vayun Krishna (11) of Sunnyvale, California, was the first runner up.

In Washington D.C., Christopher Serrao (12) of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey was the winner while Srivarun Hathwar (12) of Virginia Beach, Virginia, was the first runner up.

In Charlotte, Vishal Madhudi (14) of Painted Post, New York was the winner while Kyu-Carlo Alegre (13) of Carrollton, Georgia, was the first runner up.

The event is open to children of South Asian descent up to 14 years of age and will give children a chance to test their spelling skills in their core peer group.

Organized by Touchdown Media Inc., the South Asian Spelling Bee is celebrating its 11^th anniversary this year and regionals are being held in six locations across the nation including Washington, D.C., North Carolina, California, Chicago, New Jersey and Texas as well as an international regional in Accra, Ghana which was conducted earlier this year.

“For the past ten years, the Bee has consistently provided a firm platform for the community to come together and hone their craft. It’s become a family activity that contributes towards the overall development of the child. We are proud to enter our eleventh consecutive year and look forward to engaging some of these wonderful spellers,” Rahul Walia, founder of the South Asian Spelling Bee and CEO of Touchdown Media Inc., said in a press release.

Within the past year the South Asian Spelling Bee has been exhaustively featured in “Breaking the Bee” and an exclusive story on VICE News that followed the journey of South Asian Spelling Bee spellers and the importance of the South Asian Spelling Bee platform being a vital step in their spelling journey.

The top two spellers of each regional competition will advance to the finals which will be held in New Jersey in August where the champion will win a grand prize of $3,000.