{"id":164142,"date":"2026-03-06T12:55:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T17:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=164142"},"modified":"2026-03-13T16:30:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T20:30:31","slug":"centerville-seventh-grader-wins-wright-state-university-regional-spelling-bee-advances-to-2026-scripps-national-spelling-bee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2026\/03\/06\/centerville-seventh-grader-wins-wright-state-university-regional-spelling-bee-advances-to-2026-scripps-national-spelling-bee\/","title":{"rendered":"Centerville seventh grader wins Wright State University Regional Spelling Bee, advances to 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Sidharth Nair, a seventh grader at Watts Middle School, won the 2026 Wright State University Regional Spelling Bee, earning a coveted spot at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. (Photos by Erin Pence)<\/p><\/div>\n

Sidharth Nair, a seventh-grade student from Watts Middle School in Centerville, won the Wright State University Regional Spelling Bee on March 6 in the Student Union\u2019s Apollo Room.<\/p>\n

Sidharth clinched the title by correctly spelling \u201cmasseuse,\u201d a woman who practices massage.<\/p>\n

The win earns Sidharth a coveted spot at the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee, set for May 26\u201328 in Washington, D.C., where he will compete against top spellers from across the country.<\/p>\n

In addition, Sidharth received one-year subscriptions to Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online and Britannica Online Premium, while his school received a one-year subscription to News-O-Matic.<\/p>\n

Sidharth discovered his passion for spelling in sixth grade, when he reached the finals at his school. Determined to improve, he prepared methodically for this year\u2019s competition, studying the Scripps Spelling Bee Word App and the dictionary. Sidharth credited his parents, who quizzed him regularly on the 4,000 words on the spelling bee\u2019s official study list.<\/p>\n

Wright State\u2019s competition spanned 11 rounds and drew 48 students in grades four through eight from Greene, Clark, Darke, Miami, Montgomery and Preble counties.<\/p>\n

Now in its third year as host, Wright State has welcomed nearly 150 students and their families to the Dayton Campus for the Regional Spelling Bee.<\/p>\n

Hosting the Regional Spelling Bee reflects Wright State\u2019s commitment to engaging young learners across the region and helping them envision themselves on a college campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cPartnering with the Scripps National Spelling Bee brings a nationally recognized program to students across the Miami Valley,\u201d said Susan Schaurer, vice president for enrollment, marketing and career development. \u201cWe want every student to feel pride in their performance and excited about what their future could look like \u2014 including at Wright State.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s spelling bee was organized by Wright State\u2019s College of Liberal Arts<\/a> and the Office of the President, with support from volunteers with the 655th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing, the 14th and 64th Intelligence Squadrons and the 71st Surveillance Squadron at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Sidharth Nair credited his parents for quizzing him regularly on the 4,000 words on the spelling bee\u2019s official study list.<\/p><\/div>\n

Launched in 1925, the Scripps National Spelling Bee is the nation\u2019s largest and longest-running educational program. Visit spellingbee.com<\/a> for more information about the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which is administered on a not-for-profit basis by The E.W. Scripps Company.<\/p>\n

Take the next step<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more information about admissions, financial aid and visiting campus, future students and their families can visit wright.edu\/admissions<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sidharth Nair, a seventh-grade student at Watts Middle School in Centerville, won the Wright State University Regional Spelling Bee, earning a coveted spot at the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":164163,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,729,725,747,715,4293],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-around-campus","category-home-news-sidebar","category-liberal-arts","category-news","category-student-union"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164142"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164301,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164142\/revisions\/164301"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}