About 100 middle schoolers from all around San Diego County are getting ready to test their vocabularies at this year's regional Spelling Bee.
One of those spellers is Mihir Konkapaka, an 8th grader at Mesa Verde Middle School who has a love for words. He's ready to show off their extensive vocabularies, but Konkapaka has been here before. He won the 2024 San Diego County Regional Spelling Bee in 2022.
“I thought it would be a good idea just to see how I’d do and see how far I get,” Konkapaka said.
And in 2023, he won again with the word "exsufflation," meaning the act of forcefully breathing out.
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The regional spelling bee is open to San Diego County students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade in a public or private school with a combined enrollment of 30 or more kids.
And so kids aren’t left in the dark, the organization gives out a study list of about 4,000 words to schools that are enrolled. Konkapaka said he goes beyond the list because knowing the root of a word makes it easier to spell it.
“Let’s say I have arachnophobia. Arachno means spider and phobia means fear. So, even without knowing that arachnophobia means fear of spiders, with the knowledge of root words, I can figure that out,” Konkapaka said.
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But there are some words that Konkapaka said make his palms a little sweaty.
“Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg,” Konkapaka said.
The winner of the regional bee will earn a spot at the national spelling bee in Washington D.C.
“I’m very nervous, but I also feel confident. I’ve put in a lot of time and effort, and I’ve practiced a lot,” Konkapaka said.
Konkapaka is hoping that spot will be his as he gets ready for high school.
“All my friends are really supportive and my family is really supportive and even the staff at school are cheering me on,” Konkapaka said.
