Schools

Bayside Student Wins National Spelling Bee

Student from Nathaniel Hawthorne M.S. 74 is this year's top speller.

Arvind Mahankali of Bayside's Nathaniel Hawthorne M.S. 74 brought home the Scripps National Spelling Bee trophy Thursday night, according to CNN.

The word that put him over the top? "Knaidel," a kind of dumpling made using matzo meal, egg, salt and other ingredients.

Mahankali, who is 13 and an aspiring physicist, placed ninth in 2010 and finished in third place in 2011 and 2012.  

In addition to the trophy, Mahankali won $32,500 in cash and savings bonds, and his own reference library. 

He had quite a climb to become king of the spelling mountain. Every year eleven million school children participate in the spelling bee preliminaries, out of which only eleven make it to the finals. 



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