The Kane Excellence in Education Partnership and Kane County Teacher’s Credit Union have chosen Malachi Lokan to receive the $1,000 Kane Excellence in Education Partnership Youth Scholarship.

Lokan was awarded the scholarship on August 26, 2019 by Kane County Assistant Regional Superintendent of Schools Deanna Oliver and Yvonne Irving representing KCTCU. Lokan will be attending Waubonsee College in the Fall.

Irving said KCTCU is committed to the communities it serves.

“Partnering closely with the school districts in Kane County is one of the ways we give back,” Irving said. “Our relationship with KEEP is a tangible way to support our motto: ‘Building Stronger Communities Together.’”

For the second consecutive year, Pranav Kollu from Cambridge Lakes Charter School in District 300 represented Kane County in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

Earlier in the year, Pranav and seven other spelling finalists throughout Kane County competed for the chance to be crowned champion. While the competition was fierce, lasting 12 rounds and eventually ending in the vocabulary round, Pranav took home the title with the winning vocabulary word “pinafore” while the last spelling words were “anachronism” and “fusillade.”

Pranav competed with the best spellers in the nation and was able to make it to the third round of the bee. He spelled his word in the second round — “tetrazzini” — correctly.

When asked to spell “gizzard,” Pranav joked with Jacques Bailly, the voice of the Scripps Bee, saying he didn’t feel well and got a laugh from the audience before nailing the correct spelling of the word.

“The Kane County ROE is proud of Pranav and the Kollu family for their achievement and how they represented Kane County on the national stage once again,” Regional Superintendent Patricia Dal Santo said. “The ROE is grateful for the support of the Kane Excellence in Education and the Kane County Cougars in sponsoring the Kane County Spelling Bee finalist each year as they represent Kane County at the National Spelling Bee.”

The 92nd Scripps National Spelling Bee championship made history this year, as eight dictionary experts survived 20 total rounds without a miss and shared the championship title.

Pranav Kollu Profile

• Speller Number: 130
• Hometown: Algonquin, Illinois
• Sponsor: Kane County Regional Office of Education
• School: Cambridge Lakes Charter School
• Age: 12, sixth Grade

In partnership with the Dunham Fund and the Kane County ROE, KEEP is proud to be a sponsor of the Kane County Regional Spelling Bee! Pranav Kollu, a District 300 student from Cambridge Lakes Charter School, was crowned champion of the 2018 Kane County Spelling Bee on March 14th.

Sponsored by the Dunham Fund and the Kane Excellence in Education Partnership, Pranav Kollu and his family were flown to Washington D.C. to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 27th – June 1st, 2018. Pranav was speller number 183 of the 519 spellers that competed in the National Spelling Bee.

Eight students competed in the 2018 Kane County Spelling Bee for this opportunity to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The eight students that competed were:

• Nicholas DeLeon, Our Lady of Good Counsel, Aurora
• Benjamin Fender, Holy Cross Catholic School, Batavia
• Liza Kadyschuk, Thompson Middle School, St. Charles
• James Kennedy, St. Patrick Elementary School, St. Charles
• Pranav Kollu, Cambridge Lakes Charter School, Pingree Grove
• Shiv Patel, Hampshire Middle School, Hampshire
• Aaditya Sanghavi, Glenbrook Elementary School, Streamwood
• Grace Soh, Dundee Middle School, West Dundee

KEEP would like to thank the local sponsors that provided prizes for the students competing in the 2018 Kane County Spelling Bee.