'Minor-league' spelling bees give Indian-Americans edge

TAMPA, Fla. -- There were no streams of confetti when the winner spelled her final word at the North South Foundation spelling bee.

Unlike the glamorous Scripps National Spelling Bee, no trophy was handed out. The top 12 spellers faced off in a lecture hall with seating for 200, not a ballroom with space for thousands.

When competitors missed a word, they didn't retreat to a "crying couch" to commiserate with their families and do TV interviews before an audience of millions. They just shuffled off stage and sat in the crowd. Instead of $45,000 in cash and prizes, the winner got $500.

Yet it's likely next year's National Spelling Bee champion spent a Saturday in August at the North South Foundation's national finals.

The last dozen winners of spelling's biggest prize have been Indian-Americans who share more than heritage. Every single one has participated in bees staged by the not-for-profit foundation, which was launched in 1989 to raise scholarship money for poor children in India.

In this Saturday, Aug. 20, photo, Akshra Paimagam, of Charlotte, North Carolina, looks over her work as she competes in Phase 1 of the Senior Spelling Bee during the North South Foundation Finals in Tampa, Florida. The last dozen winners of the Scripps National Spelling Bee have been Indian-American. They share more than heritage. All 12 have participated in the not-for-profit North South Foundation's annual spelling bee for children of Indian descent. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)

Among the many reasons for Indian-Americans' dominance of spelling, perhaps none is as important as the training and competitive experience they get from the foundation, where many participants start as early as first grade.

The foundation organizes one of two national spelling bees exclusively for children with South Asian heritage.

"The National Spelling Bee is the major leagues. We're the minor-league feeding into the major leagues," NSF founder Ratnam Chitturi said.

He launched the spelling bee as a way to serve children of Indians who immigrated to the United States. Now the foundation has competitions in other subjects, including math, science, vocabulary, geography, public speaking and essay writing.

They are not open to children without Indian heritage. Chitturi said he fields one or two requests a year from parents who seek to enroll children of other ethnicities. The organization lacks the resources to host bees for everyone, he said.

In this Saturday, Aug. 20, photo, Smrithi Upadhyayula of Coppell, Texas, thinks of the spelling on her word as she competes in Phase 3 of the Senior Spelling Bee during the North South Foundation Finals, in Tampa, Florida. The last dozen winners of the Scripps National Spelling Bee have been Indian-American. They share more than heritage. All 12 have participated in the not-for-profit North South Foundation's annual spelling bee for children of Indian descent. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)

Paige Kimble, the longtime executive director of the National Spelling Bee, said she has not heard any complaints Indian-Americans have an unfair advantage because they come up through the minor-league bee system.

Two decades ago, she fielded questions about whether homeschooled children had an edge, a controversy that largely has faded.

"We heard far more concerns then about fairness, and we just don't hear that now," Kimble said. "What I would say is the edge goes to the individual, regardless of heritage, who works the hardest."