Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
MILFORD – Practicing his spelling for over an hour a day paid off for Lakeview Middle School’s Aditya Vaidya Tuesday night as he won the Kosciusko County Spelling Bee for a second consecutive year.
Runner-up was Cale Bennett, fifth grade, Pierceton Elementary School.
“I studied 1-1/2 hours every day, and I studied both lists – the Kosciusko County list and the school’s list – because I knew they’d ask both,” the 12-year-old seventh-grader said after winning the championship at Milford School.
He is the son of Shailendra and Roopashree Vaidya. He won in 2017 as a sixth-grader at Harrison Elementary School. At regionals in Fort Wayne last year, he was runner-up.
Bennett, 11, the son of Walter and Megan Bennett, won the fifth- and sixth-grade spelling bee to move on to the championship round, beating out 16 other competitors in six rounds. He won after correctly spelling the words “peroxide” and “amputation.” Runner-up in that division was Sophia Johnston, Sacred Heart Elementary School.
Vaidya won the seventh- and eighth-grade division to move on to the final bee, beating three other competitors in eight rounds. He won in the middle school division on the words “adjacent” and “lunatic.” Runner-up in that division was Emily Haines, Milford School.
It took only three rounds for Vaidya to top Bennett. After correctly spelling “rupee” in the first round, Bennett misspelled pinafore in round two. Vaidya then correctly spelled “isobar” in round two and “influenza” in round three for the win.
As the winners of their grade division spelling bees, Bennett and Vaidya both will receive a $2,500 Richard R. Long Scholarship.
The scholarship is given in recognition of Long’s many years of service to the children, teachers and parents of North Webster School and in honor of his work for the International Palace of Sports, now known as the Shoop Sports and Youth Foundation. The Shoop Foundation funds the spelling bee scholarships to help support higher education for the spelling bee winners.
Vaidya will advance to the 64th annual Journal Gazette Spelling Bee in Fort Wayne at 10 a.m. March 3 in the recital hall at Rhinehart Music Center at IPFW. The winner at that regional will represent northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio at the national bee in Washington, D.C.
If Vaidya is unable to participate in the regionals for some reason, Bennett will replace him.
