THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | MARCH 21, 2021
11 CITY NEWS
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$ Cayden Brenes
Esha Marupudi
2 Chandler students in state spell-off ARIZONAN NEWS STAFF
Two Chandler youngsters were battling this weekend with 25 other students in grades 3-8 for a chance to represent Arizona in the 2021 Scripps Spelling Bee. Esha Marupudi, 8, a third grader at BASIS Chandler Primary South, and Cayden Brenes, a 10-year-old fifth grader at Jacobson Elementary, came out on top in bees at their school and a regional bee involving students from Chandler, Gilbert, Higley and Queen Creek schools. The state competition was scheduled to be held yesterday, March 20, after the Arizonan’s deadline. The winner will compete with an undetermined number of other state winners for a chance to be among 10 or 12 finalists who will compete in an in-person competition July 8 in Orlando, Florida. That contest for the national winner will be broadcast live on ESPN2. Katie Cox, head of school at BASIS
Chandler Primary-South Campus, said the entire school was excited for Esha, the daughter of Sricharan Marupudi and Shoma Bommena. Cayden’s mom said she “was surprised a bit” by his victory, explaining that while “he is very intelligent,” she didn’t realize “what a great speller he is.” Cayden has loved reading his whole young life and taught himself how to read at age 4. As for the local and county bees where he came out on top, “he has studied here and there, but with lists of thousands of words. “It is impossible to guess what the words will be,” she added. “Spelling is more of a natural ability. He has a ‘rules’ brain, which probably helps.” She said she’s quizzed Cayden on words and “he’s almost never wrong.” And he also has another strength, his mom said. “Surprisingly, Cayden’s greatest strength is quantitative. He’s a numbers guy.”
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