NEW YORK (TIP): Continuing its quest for the best speller in the community, the 2017 South Asian Spelling Bee (www.SouthAsianSpellingBee.com) traveled to Illinois and Washington with stops in Chicago and Seattle.

With a huge turnout this year as well, the Bee attracted some top talent as well as young and new spellers that competed for the coveted prizes and titles.

In the Chicago Regional, Nilla Rajan (12) of Chillicothe, Ohio was the regional champ, Snehal Choudhury (12) of Massillon, Ohio, was the first runner up, and Jashun Paluru (12) of West Lafayette, Indiana, was second runner up.

In Seattle, Cameron Keith (11) from Longmont, Colorado was named regional champ, Zoe Keith (9) from Longmont, Colorado was first runner up, and Vithul Ravivarma (13) of Sammamish, Washington, was the second runner-up.

The event is open to children of South Asian descent up to 14 years of age. It will give South Asian children a chance to test their spelling skills in their core peer group. Interested spellers need their parent or guardian to register them online at www.southasianspellingbee.com.

Organized by Touchdown Media Inc., the South Asian Spelling Bee is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, with regionals being held in 8 locations across the United States. Apart from Chicago and Seattle, regional centers include Washington, D.C. Metro, Charlotte, Boston, New Jersey, the Bay Area, and Dallas. All events will be free to attend and open to the public. An international regional in Accra, Ghana was conducted earlier this year, from where spellers of South Asian descent will qualify for the finals.

“For the past nine years, the Bee has consistently provided a firm platform for the community to come together and hone their craft. It’s become a family activity that contributes towards the overall development of the child. We are proud to enter our Tenth consecutive year and look forward to engaging some of these wonderful spellers,” said Rahul Walia, founder of the South Asian Spelling Bee and CEO of Touchdown Media Inc.

The top two spellers of each regional competition will advance to the finals to be held in New Jersey in August. Champion’s grand prize of $3,000 will be awarded to the winner at the finals.