A 12-year-old from Aurora is getting ready to signify Colorado and compete on the 2025 Scripps Nationwide Spelling Bee. It is an achievement he is lengthy waited for since watching his older brother place second within the nationwide competitors simply three years in the past.
“He was fairly good at it, and I used to be intrigued,” Vedanth Raju mentioned.
The seventh grader at Aurora Quest Okay-8, a gifted and gifted magnet faculty in Aurora Public Colleges, mentioned he loves phrases. That features the difficult, lengthy ones that many individuals could not even have the ability to pronounce.
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“So, it is x-i-p-h-o-p-h-y-l-l-o-u-s,” Raju spelled for CBS Colorado’s Kelly Werthmann. “You’ll be able to piece that along with root phrases.”
“That went over my head. I’ll be actual trustworthy with you,” Werthmann replied with fun.
Simply sit with Raju for a couple of minutes and also you’re certain to study one thing new.
“It is spelled s-a-m-h-a-i-n, and it means Halloween in Irish Gaelic,” he mentioned. “It is also actually intriguing the completely different languages that come collectively to type the phrases.”
With help from his brother, Vikram, and a little bit of sibling rivalry, the pre-teen is now gearing up for his personal look on the nationwide spelling bee stage in Washington, D.C. after profitable the Colorado spelling bee in addition to state science and engineering competitors in the identical week.
Raju household 
“There’s quite a lot of strain from my brother as a result of he was so profitable,” mentioned Raju, “however he additionally teaches me quite a lot of spelling ideas and issues concerning the etymology.”
“I believe it is actually cool that I did that in the identical week as a result of these are two massive achievements,” he continued.
His academics, classmates, and now even metropolis leaders suppose it is actually cool, too. On Tuesday, Aurora’s mayor shocked Raju with a particular proclamation throughout a college meeting.
“Now, due to this fact I, Mike Coffman, Mayor of the Metropolis of Aurora, do hereby proclaim March 25, 2025, as Vedanth Raju Day,” the mayor mentioned, which was adopted by an eruption of cheers from college students and workers.
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How does Raju really feel concerning the honor and neighborhood help as he prepares for his greatest competitors but? Properly, he’ll spell it out for you.
“I-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-e,” he mentioned. “I really like Aurora and I am actually happy with myself and actually comfortable that I get to signify this glorious metropolis.”
With simply two months till the nationwide spelling bee, Raju is kicking his learning into excessive gear, learning 3 to 4 hours on weekdays and upwards of 8 hours on the weekends. He and his household will head to Washington, D.C. for the competitors on Could 25.
