Nolan Ryan Jr. High eighth-grader, Aditya Chemudupaty, is returning to Washington, D.C., once again to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee after winning the 2010 Houston PBS Spelling Bee over the weekend. By spelling the word verism, Chemudupaty returns to the National contest in which he placed in the top 12 last year.

The Houston PBS Spelling Bee is the third largest Bee in the country with 1,049 schools participating. This is the second year the station has served as sponsor.

“We feel the Spelling Bee fits perfectly with our educational mission to empower, engage and enrich the lives of the people in Southeast Texas. We want to wish Aditya the best of luck as he heads to Washington for Bee Week,” said John Hesse, General Manager at HoustonPBS.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is the nation's largest and longest-running educational promotion, administered on a not-for-profit basis, local spelling bee sponsors in the United States, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Department of Defense Schools in Europe; also, the Bahamas, Canada, China, Ghana, Jamaica, New Zealand, and South Korea.

By winning the Houston PBS Spelling Bee, Chemudupaty earned a chance to compete against 274 fellow spellers from all over the country for more than $35,000 in cash and prizes during his all-expenses-paid trip for two to Washington, D.C. He will represent Houston at the Spelling Bee during Bee Week from June 1-4.

Good luck Aditya, from the your neighbors in the Lakes of Savannah!

Sources: Scripps Spelling Bee and Pearland Journal