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Adarsh Venkannagari won the Daily Item/SCRIPPS Regional Spelling Bee co-sponsored by The REAL Program for the fourth time in a row by correctly spelling "hordeolum." (Spenser Hasak) Purchase this photo

Seventh-grader wins spelling bee fourth year in a row

Deyscha Smith

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LYNN — For the fourth year in a row, Adarsh Venkannagari has won The Item Scripps National Spelling Bee Eastern Massachusetts Regional Finals.

The event was held at Lynn City Hall on Tuesday night and marked the 40th year the Item has hosted the event. It was also the very first time that The Real Program, a literacy-focused non-profit organization has sponsored the event.

Venkannagari, a seventh grader at Raymond J. Grey Junior High School, won with the word “hordeolum,” which means stye. To prepare for the event, Venkannagari told The Daily Item that he had to “obviously study a lot of words,” and practiced thanks to the help of his parents.

“Basically, my parents made some lists for me based on roots and language patterns so that I could prepare,” he said. “So, even if it goes out of the list, I can still get them right.”

The final spellers, which included himself and Shravya Singhal, a seventh grader at Jonas Clarke Middle School, battled it out for a total of 14 rounds. Abhinav Nambudiri, a fourth grader from Wellan Montessori School, finished in third.

By the time Venkannagari got to the final word, all of his practice ultimately paid off when he knew immediately how to spell it as soon as he heard the word. “I had it and [I was] like, there’s no way I’m gonna lose,” he said.

The atmosphere in Lynn City Hall perfectly encapsulated the power of literacy and education, as well as the importance of it being a shared experience for young students in Lynn, which directly aligns with The Real Program’s mission to empower children and families.

“[It was] just exciting to be with these really bright, dedicated kids and to see how they process the information. This is their sport,” said The REAL Program Executive Director Jan Plourde, who later added: “When it came up that there was an opportunity to try to get involved, I said, ‘I think we should do this.'”

“For us to be able to put Lynn in front of all these other communities, I think this is very important for Lynn,” Plourde said.

Venkannagari will now head to Washington, D.C., to compete in the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee, which will take place on May 26-28. “It really feels amazing to go back to the national stage again and represent Massachusetts for the fourth time in a row,” he said.

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