14-year-old wins Scripps National Spelling Bee after correctly spelling 'koinonia'

This year's Scripps National Spelling Bee champion is 14-year-old Karthik Nemmani of McKinney, Texas, who won the event Thursday night after correctly spelling the Greek word "koinonia."

The finals went 18 rounds, with second place going to Naysa Modi, 12, of Frisco, Texas, who left out the second "S" in the word "bewusstseinslage." There were 516 competitors this year, ranging in age from 8 to 15 — the largest number in the history of the event.

Nemmani walks away from the bee with $40,000 in cash, a $2,500 savings bond, a set of encyclopedias, a trophy, and the satisfaction that comes with knowing he correctly spelled a word that most people have never heard before.

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