3 suburban spellers test mettle at 101st Scripps National Spelling Bee starting today

Three suburban contestants, two of them veterans, are representing their respective counties at this week’s Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

The national competition began with preliminary rounds on Tuesday at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center located just outside Washington, D.C., and concludes with the finals on Thursday, May 28.

Returning after their 2025 trips are 14-year-old Yahya Mohammed of Hoffman Estates for the Kane County Regional Office of Education and 14-year-old Shruthi Ayyagari of Aurora for the DuPage Regional Office of Education. Yahya secured the top spot in the regional contest after correctly spelling “asylum.” Shruthi made it to the Bee after correctly spelling “telegnosis,” a word referring to perception or knowledge at a distance.

Joining them among the 247 national contenders will be first-time contestant Aditi Mopur, 13, a seventh grader at Barrington Middle School — Prairie Campus in Barrington on behalf of the Lake County Regional Office of Education.

Aditi secured her spot by correctly spelling “sumi-e,” a Japanese ink painting style, after 17 rounds of competition facing 11 other finalists at the Lake County Regional Spelling Bee in March.

According to her contest biography, Aditi is a voracious reader who loves to play the piano and violin. She likes animals, nature, being outdoors and solving puzzles. She also loves learning new facts, watching Jeopardy! and playing quiz bowl. Aditi hopes to pursue a career in math or science.

For Yahya, an eighth grader at Larsen Middle School in Elgin, this will be his third and final consecutive trip to the event. Last year, he finished in 36th place, an improvement from his 2024 performance when he tied for 60th.

A year ago he successfully made it through the seventh round by correctly spelling “osphresis,” but then got stumped in the vocabulary category of the eighth round. He incorrectly defined a basilisk as “an oblong building ending in a semicircular altar” rather than as a mythological reptile with poisonous breath.

“I did not know the word at all,” he admitted at the time.

Yahya enjoys watching sports, playing video games and playing outside with his family and friends. He enjoys trying different food, watching game shows and movies. He’s a big fan of the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cubs. His favorite subject is social studies as he likes learning about history and geography.

Shruthi, an eighth grader at Francis Granger Middle School in Aurora, finished in 89th place during her first trip to the national competition. She was eliminated in the fourth round after misspelling “coolth.”

Shruthi enjoys writing, composing music, practicing her cello and experimenting on the piano. She loves to explore a variety of topics including cooking, music and languages. She takes dance lessons, hopes to become fluent in Spanish and is passionate about learning history.

These suburban spellers will join regional champions from across the country to compete for the coveted Scripps Cup and a prize package totaling more than $50,000.

The preliminaries will be broadcast on Scripps Sports from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Central Time on Tuesday. Quarterfinals will be broadcast on the same network from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Semifinals will be broadcast on ION from 9 to 11 p.m. Central Time Wednesday. The finals will follow on the same network from 9 to 11 p.m. Thursday.

The National Spelling Bee is now just over a century old, having begun in 1925 with nine contestants. The contest has been dominated by South Asian American champions since the 2000s.

• Daily Herald staff writer Madhu Krishnamurthy contributed to this report.