Buffalo Grove Speller Competes In National Bee

A 13-year-old from Buffalo Grove will be competing this week in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Anmol Dash, an 8th grader at Daniel Wright Junior High School in Lincolnshire, will join 518 other young spellers this week in Washington, D.C., as he competes for the bee's top prize: $40,000 in cash, trips to New York City to appear on Live with Kelly and Ryan and another trip to Hollywood to appear on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! and bragging rights as winner of the prestigious competition.

Another student from Daniel Wright Junior High School, Tejas Shyamsundar, 14, of Vernon Hills will also be competing in the bee.

Other Chicago area spellers who will be competing in this year's Scripps National Bee include:

• Brooke Danz, 11, of McHenry is a 5th grader at Riverwood Elementary School
• Pranav Kollu, 11, of Algonquin, is a fifth grader at Cambridge Lakes Charter School
• Jaden Fellows, 12, of Chicago is a 6th grader at The Latin School of Chicago
• Riya Joshi, 13, of Chiacgo is a 7th grader at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School
• Gabriel Ennin, 14, of Plainfield is an 8th grader at Heritage Grove Middle School
• Ethan Ayersman, 14, of Chicago is an 8th grader at St. John of the Cross Parish School
• Sharanya Pastapur, 14, of Lake Zurich is an 8th grader at Lake Zurich Middle School North
• Olivia Schwab, 12, of Plainfield, is a 6th grader at Murphy Junior High School
• Atman Balakrishnan, 12, of Hinsdale, is a 6th grader at Hinsdale Middle School
• Shria Halkoda, 11, of Wadsworth is a 7th grader at River Trail School in Gurnee
• Calvin Franke, 13, of Palatine is a 7th grader at Plum Grove Junior High School
• William Farrell III, 13, of Chicago is a 7th grader at Immaculate Conception - St. Joseph School
• John Nelson, 12, of Western Springs is 6th grader at St. John of the Cross Parish School

The Scripps National Spelling Bee will air live starting on Tuesday morning on ESPN. The finals will be held on Thursday evening.

Photo caption: Anmol Dash/Photo credit: The Scripps National Spelling Bee website