A student from Upton Middle School in St. Joseph was in Washington, D.C. this week to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
12-year-old Ishika Dirisala is in the sixth grade and was among 243 spellers to compete in the annual event. Upton Middle School Principal Chad Mandarino tells us Ishika’s a “sweet young lady.”
“She is a very well-rounded young lady,” Mandarino said. “She’s involved in our orchestra at the school. She’s in our accelerated math. She’s a part of the tennis team. She’s just kind of a go-getter. She gets involved in a lot of things, and whatever she does, she does it at 100%.”
Mandarino says Ishika applied the same principle to her spelling studies.
“She did the Cloverleaf Spelling Bee there earlier in the year at Lake Michigan College, won that and then put hours and hours and hours in up until this recent trip to D.C. here.”
Upton spelling coach Bri VanHekken also travelled to D.C. with Ishika this week. She describes Ishika as an “incredible, determined young person” and says she won’t be surprised if Ishika is back at the national spelling bee the next two years.
Ishika didn’t make it into the quarterfinals, but VanHekken says she did amazing in the first couple of rounds.
Mandarino says the school is proud and excited to be represented at the national spelling bee. Ishika is the third Upton student he remembers making it to the bee in his 27 years at the school.
Outside of school, Ishika enjoys watching comedy movies, spending time with friends, listening to the latest pop music, and reading fiction.
