Meet the 8 NC students to compete in 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Eight North Carolina middle schoolers will compete in the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee this week.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the national competition, which began in 1925 with nine spellers. In 2025, it includes 243 competitors from around the U.S. and is considered the country’s largest and longest-running educational program.

One North Carolina speller hails from Concord, while the rest are from Cary, Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville and Harnett and Johnston Counties. One additional speller in this year’s contest is from just across the NC border in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

Of the competitors, 53 competed in last year’s bee while 178 are first-time participants. No speller from North Carolina has won the contest since 1970.

Preliminary rounds begin Tuesday at 8 a.m. The semifinals air Wednesday at 8 p.m. on ION, while the finals air live Thursday at 8 p.m.

There are multiple rounds of the competition, and spellers move forward each time they spell a given word correctly within the given minute and 30 seconds. When they spell a word incorrectly, they are eliminated. All spellers eliminated within the same round are tied for the same place. The champion is awarded a $50,000 cash prize.

Here’s a look at the eight spellers from North Carolina, and one Charlotte-area speller from Fort Mill, South Carolina, based on their bios on the spelling bee website:

Aishwarya Kallakuri

Kallakuri, 14, is an eighth-grader at Valor Preparatory Academy, a public charter school in Concord. She previously competed in the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee, where she tied for 22nd place. An avid reader, writer and traveler, Kallakuri is passionate about learning new things and often practices new languages in her spare time. One day, she hopes to pursue a career in psychology and neuroscience.

Sach Akella

Akella, 11, is in sixth grade at Mills Park Middle School in Cary. He is a voracious reader with a love of learning, and he hopes to one day be an architect. In Akella’s spare time, he enjoys playing the piano, writing poetry and watching and playing cricket and soccer.

Holden Good

Good, 13, is a seventh-grader at Moore Square Magnet Middle School in Raleigh. He’s passionate about theater and music and plays tenor saxophone in his school’s band. He also enjoys running, biking and swimming as well as playing with his five cats and two dogs.

Kushi Gottimukkala

Gottimukkala, 12, is a sixth-grader at Carnage G&T Magnet Middle School in Raleigh. She loves reading, math and science and is a puzzle enthusiast. She also has a passion for Bollywood dance, which she has been performing since she was 4 years old.

Johannes Roxburgh

Roxburgh, 14, is an eighth-grader at Voyager Academy Middle School in Durham. He previously competed in the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee and tied for 192nd place. Roxburgh’s first love is cooking and baking: he hopes to one day become a chef and open his own restaurant. Roxburgh also loves acting, singing and listening to music.

Zachary Thurnher

Thurnher, 14, is in eighth grade at Seventy-First Classical Middle School in Fayetteville. He previously competed in the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee and tied for 139th place. Thurnher loves coding, physics and chemistry, and he previously sent a science experiment to space as part of NASA’s STARward STEM Design Challenge. He also enjoys, fencing, reading and drawing.

Antonella Guzman-Vazquez

Guzman-Vazquez, 13, is in seventh grade at Highland Middle School in Harnett County. She loves spending her time doing creative activities like writing, crocheting, drawing and designing fashion. She’s been in a dual-language program since kindergarten and has competed in both English and Spanish spelling bees.

Swayzee Brown

Brown, 13, is an eighth grader at Southside Christian School in Johnston County. She loves reading, horseback riding and playing volleyball. Brown has also been an avid go-kart racer since she was 7 years old.

Ahaan Jain

Jain, 13, is in eighth grade at Pleasant Knoll Middle School in Fort Mill, South Carolina. He loves reading fantasy and mythology books and enjoys playing basketball and soccer in his spare time. Jain is also a seasoned traveler, having visited 12 countries.

This story was originally published May 26, 2025 at 5:00 AM.

Rebecca Noel

The Charlotte Observer

Rebecca Noel reports on education for The Charlotte Observer. She’s a native of Houston, Texas, and graduated from Rice University. She later received a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. When she’s not reporting, she enjoys reading, running and frequenting coffee shops around Charlotte.