North South Foundation Marks 20 Years of Academic Bees for Indian-American "All-Stars"

Organization to Further Education of Indian-American Students Announces Winners of 2012 National Championships.

Winners of the North South Foundation 2012 National Academic Bees

It was an amazing feeling for parents and the rest of the audience to witness these academic all-stars and future leaders perform so admirably.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (PRWEB) September 04, 2012

The nonprofit North South Foundation(NSF) and University of Michigan hosted more than 1,200 of tomorrow’s scientists, professors, mathematicians and business leaders at the foundation’s 20th Annual National Academic Championships Aug. 18-19, 2012. The tournament was the final step for young Indian-American bee winners from across the United States, in categories such as spelling, vocabulary, geography, math, science, essay writing, public speaking and brain bee.

The annual competition draws students from elementary school through high school, competing for scholarship money and the recognition of their peers. The event is structured so local and regional winners in more than one academic subject can compete in multiple categories. First, second and third place winners were crowned in each of 15 contests.

“Each one of these contestants is a winner regardless of the end result, for representing their local chapters at the national level and for dedicating their summer vacations preparing for the finals,” said Dr. Ratnam Chitturi, founder and president of North South Foundation. “It was an amazing feeling for parents and the rest of the audience to witness these academic all-stars and future leaders perform so admirably.”

North South Foundation organizes educational contests at 85 chapters across the U.S. that are designed to encourage academic excellence among Indian-American children. This year’s local tournaments were held in March, April and May. The regional bees drew over 15,000 contestants vying for the chance to compete at the national level. National Finals were organized by the Detroit and Ann Arbor chapters with the participation of over 250 dedicated volunteers. NSF students consistently win major national competitions, including the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee and National Geographic Bee. NSF students have also made it to the MATHCOUNTS Competition and National Science Bowl finals.

Following are the 2012 National Championship winners:

JUNIOR SPELLING BEE
First: Shourav Dasari, Pearland, Texas
Second: Tejas Muthusamy, Glen Allen, Va.
Third: Raksheet Kota, Katy, Texas

SENIOR SPELLING BEE
First: Sriram Hathwar, Painted Post, N.Y.
Second: Kuvam Shahane, Rochester Hills, Mich.
Third: Lokesh Nagineni, Flower Mound, Texas

JUNIOR VOCABULARY BEE
First: Naveen Mukkatt, Barrington, Ill.
Second: Sujan Sridhar, Sacramento, Calif.
Third: Ashna Chali, St. Louis, Mo.

INTERMEDIATE VOCABULARY BEE
First: Kuvam Shahane, Rochester Hills, Mich.
Second: Koshik Mahapatra, Stamford, Conn.
Third: Rohan Chalasani, Pittsburgh, Pa.

MATH BEE LEVEL 1
First: Alor Sahoo, Bakersfield, Calif.
Second: Atharva Pathak, Gainesville, Fla.
Third: Pravalika Putalapattu, Fairfax, Va.

MATH BEE LEVEL 2
First: Shaan Bhandarkar, Ashburn, Va.
Second: Neeyanth Kopparapu, Fairfax, Va.
Third: Shruthi Parthasarathi, Mason, Ohio

MATH BEE LEVEL 3
First: Ankan Bhattacharya, Canton, Mich.
Second: Akshaj Kodaveru, Fairfax, Va.
Third: Mayuka Vadari, Seattle, Wash.

JUNIOR SCIENCE BEE
First: Naveen Mukkatt, Barrington, Ill.
Second: Vivek Vijayakumar, Irvine, Calif.
Third: Kanav Mittal, Palo Alto, Calif.

INTERMEDIATE SCIENCE BEE
First: Sanath Govindarajan, Houston, Texas
Second: Advait Pilkhane, San Diego, Calif.
Third: Shivani Nellore, Louisville, Ky.

SENIOR SCIENCE BEE
First: Shravan Ravishankar, Indianapolis, Ind.
Second: Chttesh Thavamani, Troy, Mich.
Third: Suvansh Sanjeev, Seattle, Wash.

JUNIOR GEOGRAPHY BEE
First: Siddharth Krishnakumar, Fairfax, Va.
Second: Ronak Saluja, Manchester, N.H.
Third: Shriya Yarlagadda, Grand Blanc, Mich.

SENIOR GEOGRAPHY BEE
First: Asha Jain, Madison, Wis.
Second: Rohit Rajiv, Worcestor, Mass.
Third: Sathwik Karnik, Worcestor, Mass.

SENIOR ESSAY WRITING BEE
First: Sameer Kailasa, Ft Lauderdale, Fla.
Second: Sonia Samanth, Jacksonville, Fla.
Third: Abhishek Rao, Wilmington, Del.

SENIOR PUBLIC SPEAKING BEE
First: Varun Jambunath, Cleveland, Ohio
Second: Karthik Munugala, Novi, Mich.
Third: Jayanth Wunnava, Princeton, N.J.

BRAIN BEE
First: Meghana Ganapathiraju, Raleigh, N.C.
Second: Samir Durvasula, Rockville, Md.
Third: Sameer Kailasa, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

About North South Foundation
Established in 1989 and entirely run by volunteers, North South Foundation’s mission is to develop human resources by giving scholarships to brilliant but needy students in India entering college, regardless of religion, gender, caste or creed; promote excellence in human endeavor by organizing educational contests for children in the United States; and help people achieve success by giving hope to those who may have none. The foundation has awarded over 7,800 college scholarships so far. For more information, visit http://www.northsouth.org.

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