Bentonville student wins Arkansas State Spelling Bee

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A 12-year-old Bentonville student has won this year’s of Arkansas State Spelling Bee.

Aditi Shashidhara won the contest on Saturday after correctly spelling the word strophic, which means using the same music for successive stanzas.

The win means that Shashidhara, a Haas Hall of Bentonville student, will take part in the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee, which will take place in June in Washington, D.C.

Shashidhara won among a group of 54 Arkansas students who competed on Saturday in Little Rock.

The runner-up for the state contest was Eleanor Christine Huff of White County. Placing third was Matthew Brodbent of Cross County, while fourth place went to Charles Akin Johnson of Washington County.

About 61,500 students from 393 schools in 56 counties across Arkansas participated in local and county contests that lead up to the state spelling bee contest.

At the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee, Shashidhara will compete against 200 regional champions from around the country.