6th-grader just misses semifinals in D.C. bee

 

By: NICOLE GAUDIANO/News Journal Washington Bureau

Posted: June 4, 2010

 

WASHINGTON -- The bright lights and ballroom full of people didn't faze Newark's Pranay Malempati, 11, when he took the stage at the national spelling bee.

 

The Waters Middle School sixth-grader aced the spelling of "reflorescent," an adjective that means "flowering again," and "oryctology," a science of minerals, during oral rounds Thursday.

 

But the written test he took on Wednesday proved more difficult and kept him out of today's semifinals.

 

"I'm OK," he said quietly just after learning the news.

 

Pranay's father, Srini Malempati, standing beside him, said his son "knows all the ups and downs" as a Boy Scout First Class.

 

"Bottom line is, he has two more chances and he will do better in the upcoming year," Malempati said.

 

No Delawarean has ever won the national bee. Pranay said he would try again. He's been competing in spelling bees since he was 5 years old. But this was his first time at the national bee, after winning second place in the state last year.

 

Leading up to the bee, his father told him to practice the Boy Scout motto -- "Be prepared" -- and the Cub Scout motto -- "Do your best." That, Pranay did. Since December, Pranay studied for about four hours every night and six

to eight hours on the weekends. He said it was worth it.

 

"I got all the way here and it's an honor," he said.

 

Asked whether he brought any good luck charms to get him through the day, he said, "No. Just hard work."

 

Pranay and his family are fluent in Telugu. He plays Little League baseball and goes camping monthly. He plays violin in his school orchestra and participates in Science Olympiad and Odyssey of the Mind activities. He hopes to become a cardiovascular surgeon and entrepreneur.

 

The competition started Wednesday with a 50-word written test. The scores on the written test were combined with the results of Thursday's two oral rounds to determine which spellers compete in today's semifinal rounds.

 

ESPN will broadcast the semifinals from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and ABC will broadcast the finals 8-10 p.m.

 

This year's bee features 273 competitors -- including a record 266 from the U.S. -- ranging in age from 8 to 15. The spellers come from as far away as China, New Zealand and Ghana.

 

All spellers get at least $100 in cash, a commemorative watch and a $100 U.S. savings bond. The 2010 champion will get $30,000 in cash, a $5,000 scholarship, a $2,500 savings bond and other prizes.

 

This year's bee will be the last one held in Washington. Next year, it moves a few miles away to a larger venue in suburban Maryland that can accommodate the throngs -- family members, friends and media -- that seem to get bigger each year, thanks in part to the cult-like status the bee has attained through films, books and Broadway musicals.

 

Last year's winning word was "Laodicean," which means lukewarm or indifferent in religion or politics.

 

Photograph: Pranay Malempati, 11, of Newark, a sixth-grader at Waters Middle School, competes Thursday in the third round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington. (Gannett JOE BRIER)

 

To see Pranay take his turn at the microphone at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., follow the link to the video posted on the News Journal's website.