BEHIND THE BANNER
ju n2 3 EDI TION
Dallas still buzzing
over Scripps National Spelling Bee By Ben Harbuck
From classrooms & local district bees to the Hall of State & Washington D.C., year in and year out Dallas spellers fight through five different rounds of highly competitive spelling bees to earn their right to contest at the highest level. Each year the Dallas Sports Commission has the privilege of sending the top spellers from the region on an allexpenses paid trip to the nation’s capital for the Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee. In early June Scripps hosted the 95th annual competition where Dallas was proudly represented by two remarkable young students.
Sriya Gomatam a 7th grader from Coppell ISD & Faizan Zaki a two-time national competitor from Plano ISD. Both spellers battled and proved their mettle against the dictionary, as Sriya earned her way into round three of preliminary rounds, and Faizan made it all the way to the Semifinals. At this years competition, Gomatam joined Zaki in the long lineage of talented spellers to hail from North Texas. Dallas is widely recognized as one of the most competitive regions in the country, and history backs that up. The city is home to several National Spelling Bee Champions.