Tower Lakes boy falls in semifinals of National Spelling Bee

Pranav Sivakumar of Tower Lakes, a sixth-grader at Barrington Middle School, made it as far as the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., before being eliminated Thursday morning by “capilliculture” — a word meaning the treatment to prevent or cure baldness.

Pranav, 11, missed one of the l's in the word, but to get that far had successfully spelled “pointillage,” “pityriasis” and “excrescential” in earlier rounds.

He said he was thrown off by his knowledge of the root of the word — which has only one l.

“I wasn't nervous, but I could tell other contestants were nervous,” Pranav said.

In fact, he built up his confidence about appearing in the nationally televised event by telling himself that nervousness could only be a negative factor in the contest.

Pranav was among just 41 spellers, out of 275 in all, to make it to the semifinals, and the only one from Illinois. Tam T. Nguyen, a seventh grader at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School in Hampshire, and Lucas Michael Urbanski, a fifth grade student at Immanuel Lutheran School in Crystal Lake, exited in earlier rounds.

As Pranav competed for the spelling title, classmates back in Barrington were tuned in and following his progress.

Pranav's skills at spelling and memorization were already well-documented at his school. On National Pi Day in March, he was able to recite more than 800 digits of the virtually infinite value of pi.

His language arts teacher, Heather Schumacher, said Pranav's abilities come from both a naturally strong memory as well as a passion for learning.

“While other kids are playing video games, he's memorizing the dictionary,” she said. “While other kids are watching TV, he's memorizing the digits of pi.”

Classmate Hamilton Silberg said Pranav's example has established among his peers that being smart and knowing a lot of things can be cool.

“He's definitely inspired me to try harder,” he said.

Pranav qualified for the national bee during the winter and has been preparing ever since. Schumacher said he has been memorizing both whole words as well as roots of words to help him respond to those he may not have yet come across in their entirety.

Pranav's parents said he'd been working hard to get to the national finals and was upset when he was eliminated. But his competitive nature is only inspiring him to try again next year.

Among Pranav's other accomplishments are playing the piano and viola, writing a 100-page science fiction novel at the age of 10, earning the most points in this year's Barrington Invitational Scholastic Bowl Tournament and earning a rating of 1,100 from the United States Chess Federation.

He is planning to be an astrophysicist and wants to work at Fermilab when he grows up, his father said.