Twin brothers finish first, second in LPS spelling bee

How do you spell excellence in the Lincoln Public Schools Oral Spelling Bee?

R-a-m-a-m-u-r-t-h-y.

Lux Middle School seventh-grader Sankar Ramamurthy won the 31st annual event, held Saturday at Culler Middle School. His twin brother, Eswar, finished second after winning the competition the previous two years. Sankar finished second in 2017 and third in 2016.

“We were both hoping the other would win, so it was just a matter of who,” said Sankar.

“I’m really happy for him,” Eswar said.

Sankar’s winning word was moxibustion. Other words he spelled correctly on his way to the championship included spinneret, desiderium, incorrigible and miscible. Sankar now advances to the Midwest regional spelling bee, held in Omaha in March.

The other three finalists were Shrey Agarwal, a sixth-grader at Lux; William Bivin, a fifth-grader from Randolph Elementary; and Grant Gouldie, an eighth-grader at Scott Middle School.

The spelling bee is open to LPS students in grades five through eight. On Saturday, 47 students braved the cold and snow to stand under the bright lights on stage at Culler. LPS co-sponsors the event with the Lincoln Journal Star.

For winning, Sankar received $100 and...a dictionary, of course.

So how long would you last? Some examples of words at this year’s LPS Oral Spelling Bee:

Contrition
Telegenic
Teke
Oceanography
Amity
Vanquishment
Fractal
Flotsam
Gregorian
Rescind
Litany
Endocrinologist