NATIONAL HARBOR, Md., June 2, 2017
/PRNewswire/ -- Ananya Vinay, a 12-year-old speller from
Fresno, California, is the
champion of the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee, presented by
Kindle.
Vinay earned the title in round 36 when she correctly spelled
"marocain," which is defined as "a dress fabric that is made with a
warp of silk or rayon and a filling of other yarns and is similar
to but heavier than canton crepe."
This was Vinay's second time participating in the National
Finals. She tied for 172nd place in 2016.
Rich Boehne, chairman, president
and CEO of The E.W. Scripps Company, awarded Vinay the engraved
championship trophy moments before ESPN signed off from its
national broadcast of the 90th Scripps National Spelling
Bee.
"Ananya proved her depth of knowledge of root words and word
origins to master round after round of some of the most challenging
words in the English language," said Boehne. "The entire week was
an impressive showcase of talented students who have dedicated so
much time and effort to this skill. They exude commitment and true
grit. Scripps takes great pride in serving as steward of the
nation's largest and longest-running educational event."
Vinay represents sponsor The Fresno Bee and is in 6th grade
at Fugman Elementary School in Fresno,
California.
The competition began Tuesday with 291 spellers who advanced to
the Scripps National Spelling Bee after beating the odds to reach
this level. They are among the top 0.000026 percent of more than 11
million students who participated in spelling bees held in
classrooms, schools and locally sponsored events around the
country.
Bee Week took place in the Gaylord National Resort and
Convention Center in National Harbor. Round-by-round results are
available at spellingbee.com.
The champion receives:
From Scripps: a $40,000 cash
prize and the Scripps National Spelling Bee engraved trophy.
From Kindle: a Kindle e-reader.
From Merriam-Webster: a $2,500
U.S. savings bond and a complete reference library.
From Encyclopædia Britannica: $400 of reference works including a 1768
Encyclopædia Britannica Replica Set Deluxe Edition and a three-year
membership to Britannica Online Premium.
As the Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion, Vinay will begin
first thing Friday a media tour with numerous national networks,
entertainment programs and digital platforms including "Good
Morning America," "Today Show," Wall Street Journal, "Live with
Kelly and Ryan," CNN and "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" She also will visit
Wall Street to be a guest of the New York Stock Exchange to ring
the opening bell next week.
Rohan Rajeev of Edmond, Oklahoma, representing The Oklahoman
in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, placed
second in the competition and will receive $30,000. Mira
Dedhia of Western Springs,
Illinois, representing Commonwealth Edison in Chicago, Illinois, placed third in the
competition and will receive $20,000.
As the presenting sponsor for the Scripps National Spelling Bee,
Kindle provided a Kindle Paperwhite for all spellers competing in
the National Finals. Kindle also provided an interactive corner
during Bee Week for spellers and their families to enjoy and
celebrate words, spelling and reading.
Both internationally recognized brands share in the belief that
reading is critically important to a child's lifelong
achievement.
For this year's program, the Scripps National Spelling Bee used
Kindle technology in the creation of the word lists for
school-level study materials. Kindle's technology such as FreeTime,
Word Wise and Vocabulary Builder help build confidence for students
to take on more complex books and learn new and challenging words
along the way. These enhancements provide for an improved reading
experience that leads to greater comprehension, a stronger
vocabulary and a better, uninterrupted reading experience for young
readers.
About the Scripps National Spelling Bee:
The Scripps
National Spelling Bee is the nation's largest and longest-running
educational program. The purpose of the Scripps National Spelling
Bee is to help students improve their spelling, increase their
vocabularies, learn concepts and develop correct English usage that
will help them all of their lives. 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.
About Scripps:
The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE: SSP)
serves audiences and businesses through a growing portfolio of
television, radio and digital media brands. Scripps is one of the
nation's largest independent TV station owners, with 33 television
stations in 24 markets and a reach of nearly one in five U.S.
households. It also owns 34 radio stations in eight markets.
Scripps also runs an expanding collection of local and national
digital journalism and information businesses, including satire and
humor video and web brand Cracked, podcast industry leader Midroll
Media and over-the-top video news service Newsy. Scripps also
produces television shows including "THE LIST" and "The Now" and
runs an award-winning investigative reporting newsroom in
Washington, D.C. Founded in 1878,
Scripps has held for decades to the motto, "Give light and the
people will find their own way."
About Amazon:
Amazon is guided by four
principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus,
passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and
long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping,
personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon,
AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV,
Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services
pioneered by Amazon. For more information,
visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
Contacts:
For questions or general inquiries:
513-977-3040
Spellingbee.com/contact
Twitter.com/ScrippsBee
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SOURCE The E.W. Scripps Company