Has anyone famous ever won the National Spelling Bee?

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Land Trades Milagres, Mangalore

The Leading Builders & Developers of Mangalore    
Meet US National Spelling Bee champion Kavya (13)   by Marsha Girish - USA   (14-year-old Marsha Girish,regular reader and occasional contributor of daijiworld.com interviews US 'Spelling Princess' Kavya Shivshanker exclusively for daijiworld readers)  

Jun 2, 2009
Recently a new spelling bee champion was crowned. It is an honor for me to say Kavya Shivashankar is my cousin and it was a great experience to be able to visit and interview her in Washington D.C. this past weekend.  I was also very lucky as well since I was able to meet the officials of the Scripps National Spelling Bee and Olympic gold medalist, Shawn Johnson who was the chief speaker at a banquet that was held for the spellers.  This year, there was not only a record for the most spellers to compete (293), but the Bee also had the most viewers (10 million) this year, as well.  These spellers are the best of the best because out of 11 million only 293 were eligible to complete. 
Many people have a misconception of the spellers- that they are a “nerd,” or that they “have no life”.  I am embarrassed to say, that I was one of them, until I met with many of the spellers.  When I first arrived, I saw Kennyi Kwaku Aouad, who is mainly known for his sense of humor while spelling and the time he dominated the giggles when he received the word, “sardoodledom” two years ago.  I did not know he would be as funny in person as he was on television.  However, after spending time with many of the spellers, my opinions quickly changed.  I realized these kids actually do have some fun in life, but they still maintain very important priorities, and I now respect all the hard work that they put into spelling. 
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Sweet G
6/3