Nupur Lala reflects on her National Spelling Bee win 20 years ago

THE WORD was “logorrhea.”

Nupur Lala bought some time by asking for it to be used in a sentence. A hint of a smile crossed her bespectacled face. Inside, she was bursting.

Meena Lala watched her 14-year-old daughter intently. There had been one scare during the Scripps National Spelling Bee, but that was a few rounds back, on the word “poimenics,” maybe the only time she had gotten nervous. 

But not now. Not on this word.

“L-O-G…”

Odalys Pritchard remembers the moment like it was yesterday. She was on the edge of her seat, watching her Benito Middle School eighth grader on ESPN trying to spell her way into history.

“I remember seeing the smile and the confidence when they gave her the word,” Pritchard says. “I knew she knew it.”

“…O-R-R…”

Right before she was given the final word, Nupur caught a glimpse of the event organizers preparing the trophy for the winner.

“It felt like a dream,” she says, and she wasted no time, quickly spelling the winning word.

 “…H-E-A!” 

When Nupur nailed the final word at the 76th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee on June 3, 1999, she jumped as high as she could two times, stopped to tuck her shoulder-length hair behind each ear, and jumped again, her yellow placard designating her as Speller No. 165 flailing about with her arms.

She grabbed the big trophy, raised it up to the sky and smiled the widest of smiles.

 “It didn’t feel real,” says Nupur, now age 34. “I remember jumping up and down, and wondering ‘Is there going to be ground beneath me when I land?’”

***

Twenty years later, she remembers every detail, from the hero’s greeting she received at Tampa International Airport to receiving a key to the city to a slew of television cameras eager to record her every move.

There were banners declaring “Busch Gardens Spells Champ N-U-P-U-R” and local daily newspaper headlines calling her “The goddess of spelling.” The Neighborhood News (see pg. 36) called her “Super Nupur.” 

New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner invited her to New York and gave her tickets to see “Phantom”  on Broadway. Even Hooters put up a sign congratulating Nupur.

Her parents, Meena and Nupur’s father Parag, had her write the restaurant a thank-you letter.

“In hindsight, thinking back, it was extraordinary,” she says. “I’ll never forget the way that Tampa treated me.”

Nupur is greeted at Busch Gardens after her win.

However, when she felt the most famous, she says, is when her mother was driving her home to Hunter’s Green one day, and the guard at the gate asked if that was the Spelling Bee champ in the back seat.

Meena said yes, and he asked if she could hop out and say hi. This was a time before cell phones, so he didn’t want a picture. He just wanted to congratulate her and share his admiration for her accomplishment.

“That might have been the moment I felt really famous,” Nupur says.

***

It was just the beginning, though. In 2002, the documentary “Spellbound” was released, to critical acclaim. It followed Nupur and seven other Regional champions through the 1999 Scripps Spelling Bee competition. It earned $6-million and was nominated for an Oscar, giving Nupur a second round of fame.

She never thought she would always be the Spelling Bee champ from Benito Middle School in Tampa.

“I’d say it’s the one accomplishment in my life people are still interested in,” she says. “It has stayed with me more than anything I’ve done.”

There were times, she says, that fact chafed Nupur. To be defined by something you did at age 14, when you barely knew then who you even were, and then to have so much more expected of you as a result, was frustrating at times. 

“I’ve had different feelings at different points in my life about all of it,” Nupur says. “Definitely early high school, early college, I felt that there were such massive expectations from winning the Spelling Bee at 14. I was still trying to figure out who I was and where I wanted to fit in in the world. It was very difficult.”

Today, however, Nupur has found her path. As a result, it is easier to embrace being noticed by someone who recognizes her name or face. 

***

Nupur attended high school in Fayetteville, AR, where her family had moved just a few months after the Spelling Bee victory. She graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 2007 with a B.S. degree in Brain Cognitive and Behavioral Science, and worked for three years at the Massachusetts Institute of technology (MIT) in Cambridge doing functional MRI research in cognitive neuroscience

She graduated with a Master’s degree in Cancer Biology from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2015. And, after earning her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, she is now doing her residency in Neurology at the Rhode Island Hospital in Providence.

She hopes to do a fellowship in neuro-oncology, specifically Glioblastoma multiforme, the brain cancer that killed U.S. Senator John McCain.

***

Millions of students from all 50 states battle each year to make it to The Scripps National Spelling Bee, scheduled this year for Sunday-Friday, May 26-31, in Washington, D.C.

A Benito newsletter recognized Nupur, as well as her stiffest competition.

Nupur remembers the grind. She did her first spelling bee in Kaye Whitehurst’s seventh grade English class, merely to earn extra credit. She hadn’t even heard of the Scripps Spelling Bee, but once she discovered she was good at it, winning it became a goal.

Few remember that she actually made it to our nation’s capital for the first time as a seventh grader, when she was eliminated in the third round on the first day in 1998.

She was happy and proud, but she remembers while she was almost universally praised for her efforts, a classmate taunted her by reminding her that she didn’t win.

“I still remember that feeling. One moment you can be on top, and the next moment, you’re back to being a regular kid,” she says. “I didn’t realize how much it bothered me or how much I internalized that feeling. It fueled me for years.”

Nupur says it was Whitehurst, who had gone to D.C. with her student in 1998, and Pritchard, who is now interim deputy director for Hillsborough County’s Achievement Schools, that helped lift up her spirits. 

“Teachers don’t even know the impact they make,” Nupur says. “I hope they read this and know they made a tremendous difference.”

***

With Meena (who spent many hours reading the practice words to her daughter), Whitehurst and Pritchard in her corner, Nupur was determined to get back to the National Spelling Bee in the eighth grade, and her goal was to make it to the televised portion of the event. She competed in a half dozen regional events to qualify, but says the stiffest competition was actually at Benito. 

There were 249 competitors from around the country who survived Regionals and made it to Washington and 144 of them were eliminated on the first day.

But, not Nupur. She had made it to the televised portion on Day 2, and when she did, she says a strange calm came over her.

“I met my goal,” she remembers thinking. “It was still the most surreal moment of my life.”

Nupur’s parents moved to the U.S. from a small town in central India in 1984, where Parag worked as an engineering professor at Syracuse University in upstate New York, where Nupur was born. They moved to Tampa in 1997.

Nupur’s win marked a historic shift in the Spelling Bee. Since her win, 19 spellers of Indian descent have either been champion or co-champion.

Since her win, Nupur says she did not watch the Spelling Bee every year. She confesses to a rebellious period where she didn’t want to be the “goddess of spelling” anymore.

But, when she does watch it, she says she finds herself moved by the reactions of the winners, as well as her own memories.

“It was the culmination of a lot of hard work, by me and my family,” Nupur says. “I did something very few people have, and I will forever be grateful for that moment.”

So will those who knew her, like Pritchard. Nupur’s picture commemorating her win still hangs in the front office at Benito. And, for a long time, there was a large photo portrait of Nupur displayed at the Hillsborough County School Board boardroom auditorium, until the boardroom was renovated in 2017.

“It was always nice seeing that picture,” Pritchard says. “I can’t believe it’s been 20 years. Nupur was a shining star. There’s probably a lot of people who remember her vividly.”

New Tampa FIRST LEGO League Team Tries For National Title This Weekend!

Of 48 teams that competed in the FIRST LEGO League State competition on April 6 in Delray Beach, a team of six fifth and sixth grade students from New Tampa, called Team TechnoWizards, took home first place and are on their way to competing for a national title.

The team consists of Pride Elementary fifth grade students Ayona Bagui, Dhruv Kulkarni, Naina Sethi and Nikhil Katiyar, along with sixth grade students Anika Prasad, who attends Benito Middle School, and Netra Vijay, who attends Williams Middle School.

The team has been working together for two years now, under the guidance and support of coach Sudhir Katiyar, who also Nikhil’s father, along with other parents of team members. Last year, Team TechnoWizards qualified to go to the State tournament, but didn’t place at that competition.

This year, they placed second at the Florida-West Coast Regional competition in February, which qualified them to compete at State. At the State tournament, their improved performance landed them the first-place prize, outmatching all of their competition.

“That happened because the team worked together in all aspects,” says Sudhir.

FIRST LEGO League teams use STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) as the basis for innovative learning and competition. FIRST also is an acronym that stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.” The theme for the 2018-19 season was “Into Orbit.”

The league uses LEGO Mindstorms robots as one part of its competition. Teams had to design, build and write programs to cause a robot to perform assigned tasks related to the theme.

More Than Just Robots

Robots are only part of the competition, though. 

Teams also have to complete and are judged on a project. For this year’s competition, the team members  researched numerous topics regarding problems in space and chose one that was most important to them — the well-being of astronauts.

They created a prototype to depict possible solutions to prevent health hazards to the astronauts, like loneliness.

“They are not judged just on the technical aspects” explains Sudhir. “They are also judged on the FIRST core values, such as how did you resolve issues and conflicts within the team, and how did you solve problems when your coach wasn’t around?”

FIRST’s core values include discovery, innovation, impact, inclusion, teamwork, fun, gracious professionalism and cooperation.

Throughout the competition season, which runs concurrent with the school year, Team TechnoWizards also explored and served their community at the public library and in their schools, as well as for Feeding Tampa Bay, the Children’s Home Network, St. Joseph’s Hospital, American Heart Association and an aerospace museum. 

A field trip to NASA in Cape Canaveral gave the team a chance to meet with a real astronaut, and a trip to iFly Indoor Skydiving gave them a simulation of an experience in space. 

Thanks to its win at the State level, Team TechnoWizards was invited to attend the FIRST LEGO League Razorback Invitational, a 72-team championship tournament that includes national and international teams. 

It is being held this weekend on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville.

Wesley Chapel resident named top county teacher

Pasco County’s Teacher of the Year Holly Mickler, center.Photos provided by Holly Mickler. 

On the last Tuesday of school before the holiday break, one of the science teachers at Pasco Middle School (MS) in Dade City called fellow Pasco MS teacher Holly Mickler into her classroom to ask for some help judging science fair projects.

Mickler’s students were working on assignments with tutors, so she said she could leave her classroom for a few minutes to help.

That’s when Pasco County’s Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning, Pasco School Board member Megan Harding and several other officials from the school district and teachers union knocked on that other teacher’s classroom door. 

The group was directed to the science fair, where they surprised Mickler with the news that among all of the teachers in Pasco County, she had been chosen as the District’s Teacher of the Year.

“It was a little embarrassing that I wasn’t where I was supposed to be,” Mickler laughs.

Mickler is a 14-year teaching veteran who commutes to work from Meadow Pointe each day. Although she lives in Wesley Chapel, she has spent her entire teaching career at Pasco Middle School. 

Mickler is hugged by her classmates after finding out she was named Teacher of the Year.

She has taught exceptional education and language arts, and then served as the graduation enhancement and dropout prevention teacher before launching the school’s AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program about four years ago. As AVID coordinator, Mickler teaches students who choose to take the AVID elective class and coaches teachers on how to teach strategies for college, career and life readiness in their classrooms.

“Holly is a great example of what I look for in a teacher,” says Pasco MS principal Dee Dee Johnson, who was previously the principal at Wesley Chapel High. “She cares about her students, gets to know them, and believes in each of them. I’m extremely proud to have Holly as a teacher at Pasco Middle School, because she always goes above and beyond for our students, sets high expectations, and provides students with the resources needed to meet those expectations.”

Mickler says she thought long and hard about whether or not to complete the application for Pasco’s Teacher of the Year after being chosen as her school’s nominee.

“Once you’re selected at the school level, you’re given the option of deciding whether or not to take it to district level,” she says. “I don’t like bragging on myself, and that’s what it feels like, so I almost didn’t do it.”

But, Mickler says she also thought about her school’s reputation in the community, including things such as the recent removal of its previous principal, prompting Johnson’s move to the school.

“People need to recognize that we have incredible things going on here,” Mickler says. “I thought my application was a way to showcase that for others to see. I tried to respond in a way that people would see how awesome our kids are and how dedicated our staff members are.”

Ever humble, Mickler says she’s really no different than nearly all of the teachers in Pasco County, most of whom, she says, have great things happening in their classrooms, too.

“All of us are really working hard and are dedicated,” she says. “What we have in common and share is just a passion and a love for the kids.”

Mickler doesn’t have children of her own, so she calls her students her “babies,” making an emotional connection with them.

“They rely on me for academics, but also to help them through social issues and issues at home,” she says. “They trust me.”

Mickler is now Pasco’s nominee for the statewide Teacher of the Year, competition. That winner will be announced this spring.

Pasco County’s Principal Of The Year Is Cypress Creek’s Carin Hetzler-Nettles!

Cypress Creek Middle High School principal Carin Hetzler-Nettles was vacationing in Europe on Nov. 4, when she got an unexpected video call from Kurt Browning, the Superintendent of Pasco County Schools.

“Hey, Carin,” Browning said, “I know you’re in the middle of vacation, but we wanted to let you know that you are Pasco’s Principal of the Year.”

Hetzler-Nettles was chosen to represent Pasco County Schools as its nominee for Florida’s Principal of the Year.

“Carin’s colleagues nominated her from among all district principals,” says Linda Cobbe, public information officer for Pasco County Schools. “The nominations were narrowed to three finalists, based on the number of votes each received, and then we had a vote among all administrators for District Principal of the Year, and she won.”

School Board chair Cynthia Armstrong and School Board member Colleen Beaudoin joined Browning on the call, which was posted on Pasco County Schools’ Facebook page, and offered their congratulations.
“We’re excited for you,” Browning said. “You’re a great principal. We’re excited about what you’ve done in the district and what you’re doing at Cypress Creek.”

“Thank you so much,” Hetzler-Nettles responded, smiling. “I appreciate it. I’m very humbled.”

Hetzler-Nettles, “embodies what a leader is,” said the nomination. “She drives the learning community forward in every way, while supporting staff growth. She always places kids first.”

“She’s an awesome teacher, mentor and friend,” says Tim Light, an assistant principal at Cypress Creek who has worked with Hetzler-Nettles since 2011. “I’m the administrator I am because of her.”

Light says that Hetzler-Nettles is deserving of the designation because of her hard work and commitment to opening Cypress Creek, which opened in the fall of 2017, and her dedication to building the community within the school and all of its stakeholders.

It was no easy task, say those who laud Hetzler-Nettles for her success. She had to find the right balance and build unity at Cypress Creek with students — not all of whom were happy to be switching schools after the rezoning process — from three high schools, three middle schools and several elementary schools.

Hetzler-Nettles was not only tasked with bringing these diverse groups together, but with it being a brand new school, also was responsible for things like figuring out furniture to coming up with a mascot for the school.

“She was charged with…creating its mission and motto, and getting a staff on board to live and breathe the mission and motto every day,” Light says. “She took a very difficult job and got the buy-in from all the stakeholders and created the culture here that is like no other. That’s why she got the award and why she deserves it.”

Hetzler-Nettles was previously the principal at Wesley Chapel High. Dee Dee Johnson succeeded her as principal when Hetzler-Nettles was chosen for Cypress Creek.

“She had a lot of work ahead of her,” Johnson says. “She started as a team of one, went in there full steam ahead, and knew she would go in and do what’s best for kids, and make the school great.”

Her focus is on making the experience of learning enjoyable for the students, Johnson and Light agree, and building a staff that can accomplish that. With any new school, developing traditions and pride — like creating a code of personal behavior called “The Coyote Way” — can go a long way towards making that school successful.

“I feel very fortunate that I was able to work for her for several years and learn from her,” Johnson says, “She’s very deserving.”

So Many Amendments…Do We Really Know How To Vote On Them?

Even though Florida has a hotly contested race for both Governor and the U.S. Senate coming up in the General Election tomorrow, I honestly can’t imagine that too many of us are actually looking forward to casting ballots this time around.

Why?

Well, mid-term elections are always a hit-and-miss proposition, but for the residents of New Tampa — who will pick three new Hillsborough County commissioners and a new School Board member — I have to think that, like me, some of you are so confused by all of the constitutional amendments on the ballot that you may choose to stay home instead of trying to really figure out how you should vote on some, if not most, of them.

Even though I have a four-year college degree from the University of Florida and I’ve been a professional writer and editor for more than 35 years, it seems to me that the wording of all proposed amendments to our state constitution are designed to confuse us, which makes filling in those “No” spaces hard to resist.

So, here’s a look at just a few of the 12 amendments on the ballot — because I personally may not get very far before I just start voting no on all of them. I mean, should it really take me a half hour or more, not including waiting on line time, just to vote?

Let’s start with Amendment 1 — Increased Homestead Property Tax Assessment, which grants an additional $25,000 homestead exemption for homes valued over $125,000. Owners of homes worth more than $100,000 would also receive an increase in their exemption.

If that’s the case, why don’t they just say it’s an additional exemption for homes worth more than $100,000?

On the surface, this seems like a no-brainer. After all, who wouldn’t want an additional homestead exemption?

On the other hand, groups like Florida Tax Watch, the League of Women Voters (LOWV) and others oppose it because it would take about $700 million a year out of the pockets of Florida’s cities, counties and other taxing authorities (although it wouldn’t affect school districts), starting in 2019, according to the Florida Association of Counties.

The LOWV says the likely result will be cuts in services or higher local tax rates to make up for the revenue losses, or possibly both.

OK, so how about Amendment 2 — Limitations on Property Tax Assessments?

In 2008, Florida voters amended the state Constitution to provide a 10-percent cap on annual property value increases for non-homestead property. This includes vacation homes, apartment buildings, vacant land, shopping centers and office buildings. The amendment excluded limits on assessments for school taxes.

However, the 2008 amendment on non-homestead property value limits is scheduled to automatically repeal on Jan. 1, 2019. Amendment 2, placed on the ballot by the Florida Legislature, would make the 10-percent limit on property value permanent (a legislative analysis of the proposal is here).

Like the 2008 amendment, Amendment 2 would exclude local school district taxes from the property value limits. The limits also do not apply if the property changes hands or if it undergoes substantial improvements. In other words, if a store is built on a piece of vacant land, the property value increase would not be protected by the 10-percent limit.

Florida Tax Watch supports this amendment but the LOWV is opposed to it.

Amendment 3 — Voter Control of Gambling In Florida — is an interesting one created by a citizen initiative, that would require approval of any new casino gambling through a citizen-initiative constitutional amendment, effectively barring the Legislature (as well as the Constitutional Review Commission, or CRC) from making those gambling decisions by passing laws. The interesting thing is that the new law would not affect the state’s ability to negotiate with Native American-owned casinos (like the Seminole Hard Rock here in Tampa) or dog- or horse-racing or the state lottery.

Because it puts the decision-making power for new casinos into the hands of Florida’s residents, both Tax Watch and the LOWV support Amendment 3, although a spate of recent TV ads would tell you that it wouldn’t actually help the average Florida resident much, if at all.

Another one that has gotten a lot of attention is Amendment 4 — Voting Restoration. This amendment would restore the voting rights of convicted felons (excluding those convicted of murder and felony sex crimes) who have served their time and paid their restitution without the current 5-7-year waiting period.

Again, this seems like a fair law, especially in light of statistics quoted by the LOWV (which helped write the amendment) that the recidivism rate for those who have had their voting rights restored goes down by 30 percent.

It seems to me that those who have served time for felonies may have more important things on their plate — like finding a job, getting back to normalcy with their families, etc. — than whether or not they should vote, but this one at least seems to make sense.

I also think that constitutional amendments are important enough that legislators shouldn’t be able to tack unrelated issues onto them. For example, is Amendment 6 about the rights of crime victims or the retirement age of judges? And how are those two things related?

Yeesh.