Rehoboth Elementary student wins Sussex regional spelling bee

Wearing his light-up sneakers, Rehoboth Elementary School fifth-grader Vihaan Jagadeesh already stood out, and he stood out even more when he was hoisting the first-place trophy after winning the Sussex County Regional Spelling Bee, hosted by Sussex Academy in Georgetown March 16.

Vihaan, 10, won the contest with “marimba” as his final word after a tense, eight-round final matchup with Milton Elementary School’s Evan Ponen. After Evan misspelled “cantor,” Vihaan was able to get his word correct and move forward to the national Scripps Spelling Bee contest in Washington, D.C.

Vihaan said his trick is to work through the pronunciation of a word and then spell it how it sounds. He also studied and memorized quite extensively, and he said he was fortunate to have some time between his school spelling bee, held Feb. 22, and the regional spelling bee.

“I like spelling. I like the challenge of it,” Vihaan said.

He also added that he did not think the light-up shoes gave him any kind of advantage, but was really only nervous during the final round.

“It was very intense,” Vihaan said. 

Twenty kids from 10 Sussex County schools took part in the spelling bee, and Vihaan said one advantage for him was that he went second from last, so he was able to see 18 other kids go before him, which helped keep him calm. 

This is the second annual regional spelling bee in Sussex County and is sponsored by Sussex County Libraries. Last year’s winner was Declan Durand of Love Creek Elementary School. The Scripps National Spelling Bee will start with the preliminary rounds Tuesday, May 28, with the finals to be held Thursday, May 30, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

To learn more about the Scripps National Spelling Bee, visit www.spellingbee.com.