North Carolina
Student from North Carolina finishes 4th in national spelling bee
WASHINGTON (WBTV) – A student from North Carolina finished fourth in the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday night.
Thirteen-year-old Kushi Gottimukkala made it to the 15th round of the May 28 spelling bee in Washington, D.C. before she misspelled the word “cara sposa.” She spelled it “carra spoza.”
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, cara sposa is an Italian word that means “dear wife.”
Gottimukkala is a seventh-grader at Carnage G&T Magnet Middle School in Raleigh. She was one of a handful of students to have been sponsored by the Carolina Panthers.
This year’s bee was not her first time participating in the national spelling competition. She finished 41st in the 2025 event.
Outside of spelling, Gottimukkala is active in Science Olympiad, MathCounts and a dance group. She enjoys reading and has an interest in history books and documentaries.
Fourteen-year-old Shrey Parikh from California won Thursday’s spelling bee after a “spell-off” decided the champion.
Also Read: 14-year-old battles nerves, dominates spell-off to win National Spelling Bee
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