Henrico eighth-grader wins regional spelling bee in first appearance, advances to national competition

An eighth-grade student from Henrico County won the 2026 Richmond Raceway Regional Spelling Bee March 24 in his first appearance at the competition.

Taran Shivkumar, who attends Moody Middle School, competed through eight rounds of competition before securing the victory, ultimately winning on the word “amphidromous.”

Shivkumar had competed in school and district-level spelling bees prior to the event and finished as the runner-up in district competitions in 2024 and 2025. This year, Shivkumar was the winner of his school and district spelling bees, which qualified him for the regional competition for the first time. 

Shivkumar’s mother said in an interview after the competition that her son began reading at a very early age but that his interest in competitive spelling had only begun to develop over the past few years. She also said that his preparation for the regional competition relied heavily on his own independent studying and consistent dedication.

“He started reading early, like at age two, so I kind of knew that he loved words and stuff like that,” she said. “Even if he was tired at 10 o’clock in the night, he would sometimes ask me to come in and quiz [him].”

In addition to memorizing word lists, Shivkumar’s mom said he studied word origins, roots and parts of speech to better understand spelling patterns and improve his accuracy during the competition, especially if he came across a word he couldn’t quite remember how to spell. This helped him with spelling his winning word, “amphidromous.”

“O-U-S is for adjectives, but O-S and O-U-S sound so similar,” Shivkumar’s mother said. “So you really need to know the part of speech to be able to get the correct spelling.”

Every few rounds of competition, each participant would have to answer a vocabulary question, during which they were asked to define a given word from two definition choices. Shivkumar said the most challenging question he was given was a vocabulary question during round three.

“I forgot that ‘hydro’ was a many-sided problem,” Shivkumar said. “I use ‘hydro’ to refer to a microscopic animal or a three-headed dragon, so when they gave me options, I was exasperated.”

Despite the pressure of competing in front of an audience, Shivkumar said he did his best to remain calm on stage and just have fun.

“Even though it might seem intense to others, I view it as a fun and wonderful opportunity,” Shivkumar said. “And if you lose, well, that’s okay, because you’ll get more opportunities like this.”

The Richmond Raceway’s partnership with the Scripps National Spelling Bee began in 2025 as part of the raceway’s mission to promote a love of learning among local students.

Shivkumar said he encourages other students interested in spelling bees to approach them as learning opportunities and to stay focused on preparation, not just winning. 

“Do your best and study well enough,” Shivkumar said. “And also make sure not to get too scared to give your all out there.”

Shivkumar’s regional victory qualified him for the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee, which brings together the top student spellers from across the country. This year’s national competition will be held at the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. on May 26-28.