Local student earns spot at the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee

ST. JOSEPH, Mich, -- Taking his talents all the way to the bee in Washington D.C.

One local spelling champ has punched his ticket to the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee for the second time after winning both his school and regional competition.

Spelling words without the benefit of autocorrect isn’t always e-a-s-y.

But for one Upton Middle School student, getting every letter right is as easy as 1-2-3, a-b-c.

This was the moment Sidhanth Vetrivel clinched victory at the Cloverleaf Spelling Bee just days ago on Feb. 24, coming in first amongst 54 students from Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren counties.

It's good timing too; Sidhanth is in eighth grade, meaning this is his final year of eligibility to take part in the national competition.

"I was really locked in because I really wanted to win, and I had put so much time and effort into it, if I hadn't won, I would've really regretted it, and it's my last year so more than 100% locked in," said Vetrivel.

As if getting to the final round of the regional competition wasn't difficult enough, Sidhanth had to take part in a sudden death spelling showdown with a classmate to determine the winner.

The process he's been undergoing to get this far is a rigorous one.

"He worked himself almost to physically being ill the day before the competition because he had locked in those 4,500 words that he was given, the words of champions. I think he practices for like hours at a time during the day," said Bri Van Hekken, spelling coach.

While Van Hekken does of course want him to soak in this experience as much as possible, she doesn't want him to lose sight of enjoying just being a kid.

"This is his eighth-grade year, he's going to miss the last week of school so to definitely focus, hone in, work hard, but to give himself space to enjoy these last couple of months of his 8th grade year," said Van Hekken.

But don't worry, it's not lost on him just how cool what he's doing is.

"Everyone congratulates me and that I did a really good job so it's really cool to hear that from everyone, and it's also really cool to be competing on a national level, everyone can see me, that's how cool it is," said Vetrivel.

Sidhanth’s spelling bee adventure continues at the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee in late May, where he will be the representative for southwest Michigan.