Scripps Spelling Bee 2023

Three of our San Ramon Valley Rotary Club Regional Spelling Bee winners go to the National Spelling Bee. Meet the three finalists…

THREE STUDENTS WIN IN THE SCRIPPS REGIONAL SPELLING BEE SPONSORED BY THE ROTARY CLUB OF SAN RAMON VALLEY, DANVILLE. March 25, 2023

DANVILLE, CA — Three students win in the championship of the Bay Area Scripps Regional Spelling Bee sponsored by the Rotary Club of San Ramon Valley. The three students that won the regional competition are Vikrant Chintanaboina of Discovery Charter School Falcon Campus, Shradha Rachamreddy of BASIS Independent Silicon Valley Upper School, and Dhruv Subramanian of Windemere Ranch Middle School. The regional competition covered 11 Bay Area counties in which 210 elementary and middle schools participated in three levels of competition resulting in 46 qualified students to advance to the regional competition. The regional competition was sponsored by JEI Learning Center, Rotary Club of San Ramon Valley, Valley Ventures Reality (Sampath Rajidi), Robert Half Talent Solutions, San Ramon Valley Community Interact Club, SMB Fitness and generous anonymous donors.

Spellers competed at the Amador Rancho Community Center, San Ramon on March 25, 2023. Kevin Moch served as the pronouncer for the competition, and the judges – tasked with tracking every word and verifying spelling accuracy – were George A Thampy, Melissa Lundstedt, Dean Jones, and Ann Miller. Spellers studied the Words of the Champions, a 4,000-word list provided by the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Chintanaboina, Rachamreddy and Subramanian will advance to compete in the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee, which will take place at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. The semifinals on May 31, 2023 and the finals on June 1, 2023 will be televised on ION and Bounce.
In addition to qualifying for the national competition, Chintanaboina, Rachamreddy and Subramanian, also won the following prizes:
– $1000 Cash Prize
– Rotary Club of San Ramon Valley Regional Spelling Bee Trophy
– Rotary Club of San Ramon Valley Regional Spelling Bee Certificate
– The Samuel Louis Sugarman Award is a 2023 United States Mint Proof Set provided by Jay Sugarman, Chairman and CEO of iStar Financial, in honor of his father.
– The Britannica Online Premium is a one-year subscription for the premier online resource from Encyclopedia Britannica.
– The Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online is a one-year subscription for the official word source for all levels of competition for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.Six students also made it to the last round and they were recognized with:
– Rotary Club of San Ramon Valley Regional Spelling Bee Trophy
– Rotary Club of San Ramon Valley Regional Spelling Bee Certificate

“This is a great event where the bright spellers showed off their mastery of not just spelling but how they would form the word based on its origin, how the word morphed over language boundaries, and how it is being used in current literature. The Rotary Club of San Ramon Valley is grateful that we can be a small part of the academic journey that these young minds will take in the future. The Judge Panel, Pronouncer and Volunteers have done an outstanding job to make the program successful. Great work all around!,” said Sudha R Ponnaganti, Youth Services Chair for the Rotary Club of San Ramon Valley.

The Rotary Club of San Ramon Valley became the sponsor for the Bay Area Scripps Regional Spelling Bee for the first time and hopes to continue next year and beyond . The regional competition encourages the exploration of words and lifelong curiosity, with a focus on helping students set goals and dedicate time to study and prepare. Participation in the Bee program also provides an opportunity for students to gain experience in public speaking and poise under pressure.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee provides the list of words for the regional competition. The Bee reaches millions of students across the country and in other parts of the world with the classroom materials it provides to enrolled schools.About the Rotary Club of San Ramon Valley: https://www.sanramonvalleyrotary.com/.

About the Scripps National Spelling Bee: The Scripps National Spelling Bee is the nation’s largest and longest-running educational program, having launched in 1925. Visit spellingbee.com for more information about the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which is administered on a not-for-profit basis by The E.W. Scripps Company.
San Ramon Valley Rotary Club
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Congratulations to the 46 spellers who advanced to the 2023 San Ramon Valley Rotary Regional Bee on March 25 at the Amador Rancho Center, in SAN RAMON, CA.

Speller First NameSpeller Last NameSchool Name
ShreyaAmanHidden Hills Elementary
SnehaArunChallenger School – Shawnee
SudhanvaBelurChallenger – Strawberry Park
BenjaminBressDel Rey Elementary
KarcherBrownStratford School – San Francisco
CadenChanGale Ranch Middle
AmaaniCharanChaboya Middle
ClaireChenChallenger School – Almaden
VikrantChintanaboinaDiscovery Charter School Falcon Campus
ZaneChuBel Aire Elementary
JasonDuFoster City Elementary
VikramGanddhiLos Cerros Middle
KeaneGaribayZion Lutheran School
AdrianHuangOur Lady Of Grace School
AbhinavIyerStratford Pleasanton Middle School
KushagraJhaJohn Sinnott Elementary
MishaJhaVallejo Mill Elementary
MinKimSt. Raymond School
SanathKrishnaChallenger School-Middlefield
KavyaKumarMillbrook Elementary
AyanKuttetiraEasterbrook Discovery
AkiraLavuOster Elementary
ArenLeeHelios School
MadeleineLuisWestborough Middle
ClaireMaStratford School – Pleasanton
Clarina TryphosaManuelStratford School – Milpitas
TanviMathurJane Lathrop Stanford Middle
MiraMukerjiSea Crest School
AdrianPhamOrchard School
ShradhaRachamreddyBASIS Independent Silicon Valley Upper School
VaishnaviRenduchintalaStratford Online Academy
JuliaSalamachaBullis Charter
TheenashSenguptaWilliam Hopkins Junior High
StutiShahStratford School – Middle School Campus
AaliyaShikalgarRedwood Middle
AashviSinghPine Valley Middle
MilanSreepadMerryhill School
DhruvSubramanianWindemere Ranch Middle
ZukhilSubramanianStratford Preparatory Blackford
ThyatiraSumarawDallas Ranch Middle
Sahiti TangiralaTangiralaWarwick Elementary
AksharaThummalaQuail Run Elementary School
KaashviVarshneyThomas S. Hart Middle
SanvithaVasanWarm Springs Elementary
AarushVashiChallenger School-Berryessa
OlinXiaDorris-Eaton School