INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Public Schools District Spelling Bee sets students up for the a chance to reach high.
The winner will advance to the Regional Spelling Bee this month and then potentially the Scripps National Spelling Bee this spring.
This year, 45 students from 18 schools competed in the district bee.
Hamsini Janga, a seventh grader at Benjamin Harrison Center for Inquiry School 2, is the 2024 winner.
This is the third year in a row Janga won.
She attributes her success to lots of practice and dedication.
“My parents will ask me the words and ask me to spell them," Janga said.
The 12-year-old dedicates 30 minutes to reviewing the word list every day.
She says some words, like ones with double Ls or double Ts, can be trickier than others.
But she has a tactic if she gets tripped up.
“The part of speech is a good way to find what letters are in the word and the language of origin because then you can know what kinda letters they might use," Janga said.
Janga isn’t only a wordsmith.
She plays clarinet, is learning mandarin and is on the school robotics team.
“I don’t think you could ask for a more well-rounded person," Janga’s homeroom teacher and robotics team adviser John Stevenson said. “She’s a great leader. Great role model. She helps other people all the time. Even if there’s conflict, she helps solve the conflict.”
Janga is an avid reader.
Her current obsession is the fantasy-adventure series Aru Shah.
She says putting her nose in a good book will help her prepare for the Regional Spelling Bee on March 17.
“If you want to improve your vocabulary, I’d say read more books. The books can help you improve your vocabulary. I know have the words on the spelling list only because I’ve read books or from read articles," Janga said.
If Janga wins the regional, she'll advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee this May.
The last time a Hoosier won was in 2008.
