Ranjana Ramesh of Chelmsford is extremely interested in roots.
Not necessarily her family’s roots, nor rutabaga roots, and certainly not square roots.
Her thing is word roots. That, she says, is her key to succeeding in spelling bees.
Ramesh, 14, an eighth grade student at Ste. Jean D’Arc School in Lowell, is this area’s representative in this week’s Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md. The Item sponsored the regional spelling bee, which she won, in March.
Monday, the 567 spellers gathered in the ballroom of the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center for the preliminary round, which — similar to the Item’s preliminary this year — consisted of a written test.
Contestants will continue the bee through Thursday. All rounds will be televised on ESPN.
By the time Thursday’s final rolls around, there will be at least 50 spellers left (it could be less, but it can be no more than 50). Points obtained in the preliminary round will factor into the scores of contestants seeking to move on.
Ramesh emerged from a group of 94 spellers in a district that included 110 schools ranging in location from Greater Lynn to Chelmsford, Maynard and Ashburnham. Her winning word was “peculate,” which means to embezzle.
This will be Ramesh’s second straight national bee. She won in her area last year under a different sponsor, as did her older brother, Mavin, who will be participating this year after winning a contest sponsored by RSVBEE, a program initiated by Scripps to attract more spellers.
Ramesh, in the Lynn bee at City Hall, provided some whimsical relief as the tension mounted during the contest.
“I think I have a pretty good sense of humor,” she said. “I enjoy spelling bees. It’s important to have fun while you’re up there.”
Bound for Central Catholic in Lawrence this fall, Ramish has her own way of learning and remembering how to spell words. You could call her a bit of an etymologist in that she studies word roots.
“I find it the best way to study words,” she said. “All the words for the national bee come from Merriam-Webster’s Third Dictionary. It is huge. I believe it contains 490,000 words.
“Some people go through the whole dictionary,” she said. “But I find the best way to tackle it is to go through roots, especially Greek and Latin roots. There are so many words and you can’t memorize all of them.”
So, when she hears a word, she immediately asks the pronouncer the root. And, she says, she can tell from what the pronouncer says how to spell it.
“If you break it down, it simplifies the word,” she said. “And it’s crazy how some words come together.”
Ramesh acknowledges she has a love for words, and their etymology. And she also says she wants to study Latin in high school because she hopes to be a neuro-oncologist, treating cancers of the nervous system and brain.
“Ever since I was little I’ve been interested in the brain and nervous system,” she said. “It’s something I’m passionate about.”
Ramish loves to compete, especially in tennis.
“I enjoy competing, and spelling bees are kind of a way to bring a competitive element into an academic setting,” she said. “I want to know how I stack up against other people.”
