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NEWS (/NEWS) ∠ (/news/us-news)U.S. NEWS
NEWS (/NEWS) MAR 8 2014, 4:27 PM ET
Champion Named in Marathon Spelling Bee
by ELISHA FIELDSTADT
2. Kush Sharma, left, high-fives Sophia Hoffman before the continuation of the Jackson County Spelling Bee at the Central
Library in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday, March 8, 2014. Two weeks ago, the bee ran out of words after the two eliminated 23
other contestants and went another 47 rounds against each other. Kush later won the competition in the 29th round
Saturday. $ Jill Toyoshiba / AP
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3. He’s the definition of a champion speller.
Thirteen-year-old word wunderkind Kush Sharma won Saturday’s Kansas City-
area spelling bee in a final that took 29 rounds — far faster than the previous
final that ended unexpectedly when organizers ran out of words and prompted
a tie-breaker.
Kush, a seventh-grader, beat out another Missouri middle school student,
Sophia Hoffman, to capture the Jackson County Spelling Bee title in a packed
Kansas City Public Library. They spelled out 261 words, including “barukhzy,”
“muumuu” and “schadenfreude,” before Kush correctly spelled “definition” —
but not before, of course, asking for the definition.
Kush is champion, rounds of applause!
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“Kush smiled, and the judges were trying not to smile,” head judge Kaite Stover
told NBC News after the competition. “Kush rips that one off like it’s nothing,
like we knew that he would.”
While Saturday’s 29-round competition was lengthy since bees typically run
about 20 rounds, it was nothing compared to the spelling showdown that Kush,
of the Frontier School of Innovation, endured two weeks earlier with 11-year-old
Sophia, of Highland Park Elementary School.
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4. Kush Sharma, left, spells "definition" to win the Jackson County Spelling Bee in the 29th round at the
Central Library, as Sophia Hoffman looks on, in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday, March 8, 2014. Two
weeks ago, the bee ran out of words after the two eliminated 23 other contestants and went another
47 rounds against each other. $ Jill Toyoshiba / AP
That bee lasted 66 rounds (http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/evenly-
matched-spelling-bee-competitors-run-out-words-n37131). Judges were forced
to turn to the dictionary after they ran out of approved words, and then once
they saw the kids might last all day, decided to postpone the marathon bee so
that they wouldn’t risk picking an unfair word.
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The judges had a list of 230 approved words on Saturday, plus 100 prepared
back-ups, Stover said.
“We didn’t want to run out of words this time,” event co-coordinator Mary Olive
Thompson told NBC News.
In Saturday’s final round, Sophia flubbed the word “stifling.” Kush — with victory
at the tip of his tongue — was given the word “definition.”
(http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2014_10/238526/140308-spelling-bee-
winning-ef-1608_54d7ac42f4a1b5bf77ede2cb7c4cb769.nbcnews-ux-2880-
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5. BEE-atific!! #kcbee2014 @KCLibrary
11:49 AM - 8 Mar 2014
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As per his practiced routine, Kush asked for the origin of the word, the part of
speech and yes — the definition.
“The speller on stage asked for the word definition,” the moderator replied to
Kush as an example of the word’s usage, according to Stover.
Kush will proceed to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May, and
administrators from his school expressed their support for their star student.
6. “We are so very proud and excited for Kush to represent our school in
Washington, D.C.,” Sean Isik, Frontier School of Innovation superintendent, told
NBC News.
Kush remained “humble” and “poised” during the pressure and attention he
received in the past two weeks since the initial competition grabbed national
headlines, Isik said. "He has been such a determined and focused student,"
added Frontier Principal Ilker Yilmaz.
advertisement (http://www.nbcnews.com/id/31066137/media-kit/)
Frontier School of Innovation superintendent, Ismet Sean Isik, left, and principal, Ilker Yilmaz pose
with Kush Sharma after Sharma won the Jackson County Spelling Bee at the Central Library in
Kansas City, Mo. Two weeks ago, the bee ran out of words after the Sharma and Sophia Hoffman
eliminated 23 other contestants and went another 47 rounds against each other. $ Jill Toyoshiba /
AP
While organizers were proud of Kush, his win meant a defeat for Sophia — and
the mood at the library was bittersweet, Thompson said. After so many hours
together, “we’ve all gotten to know Kush and Sophia,” Thomson said. “My eyes
got a little watery. It was heartbreaking for all the judges.”
(http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2014_10/238556/140308-spelling-bee-
school-admin-ef-1612_e615ba572bb7de4098c19139323d6a59.nbcnews-ux-2880-
1000.jpg)
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But Thomson is hopeful that she will see the same two spelling champs in the
finals next year because they’ll both be young enough to compete again.
Stover already has a plan in place should that happen: “We are keeping our
extra list of words as a back-up,” she said, “and I’m not letting anyone see it.”
* Kids continue their epic battle in spelling bee showdown 1:55
ELISHA
FIELDSTADT
TOPICS U.S. NEWS (/NEWS/US-NEWS)
FIRST PUBLISHED MAR 8 2014, 3:58 PM ET
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