Akash Vukoti

Akash Vukoti is an Indian American spelling child prodigy and TV personality from San Angelo, Texas. He was the first-ever first grader to qualify for and compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and first appeared in the NBC TV show Little Big Shots in March 2016.[1][2][3][4][5]

Akash Vukoti
Vukoti in 2020
Born (2009-05-29) May 29, 2009
Rockville, Maryland, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Years active2012–present
Websiteakashvukoti.com

Personal life

Akash Vukoti is the son of Chandrakala Jandyam and Dr. Krishna M Vukoti, who immigrated to the United States from Andhra Pradesh, India. Akash has an elder sister Amrita, who is also a Davidson Young Scholar and a member of Mensa.[6] Both Amrita and Akash Vukoti competed in the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee.[7][8]

Academic achievements
Akash competing at the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee

Vukoti competed in his first spelling bee when he was 2 years old.[9]  He was inducted into American Mensa at the age of 3 and became a Davidson Young Scholar[10] at the age of 5.[11] Vukoti became the first-ever first grader to compete in the history of the Scripps National Spelling Bee at the age of 6 years, in 2016.[12][13][14][15] Vukoti later competed in the 2018 and 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bees.[16][17] He also qualified for the 93rd Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2020.[18] However, the competition has been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.[19][20]

Television shows & media coverage

Vukoti was featured on several TV shows, such as Little Big Shots in Season 1 (2016), Season 2 (2017) and Little Big Shots UK (Episode 4) in 2017.[21][22][23] He was also featured on the Steve Harvey talk show,[24][25] Jimmy Kimmel Live!,[26][27][28] and The Preachers[29] in 2016. He appeared as a guest on the Harry show in 2017.[30] Akash was also featured on the Kelly Clarkson Show on November 10, 2020.[31]

On September 25, 2018, Vukoti was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on Dancing with the Stars: Juniors,[32][33] a spin-off of Dancing with the Stars. His professional partner was Kamri Peterson and the couple were mentored by Witney Carson. The trio were eliminated 7th from the competition on November 18, 2018.

Vukoti was interviewed live on CNN International from Hong Kong and CTV from Canada in 2016.[34] He was interviewed on Australia’s The Morning Show of Seven Network in 2019 and by TV9 Telugu in Hyderabad, India on January 14, 2020.[35][36][37]

Vukoti has also done commercials for IBM,[38] Amazon Kindle[39] and the Scripps National Spelling Bee.[40]

He also runs his popular YouTube channel,[41] which has now crossed 200,000 subscribers.

Documentaries and films

Vukoti has been featured in HBO and BBC documentaries. Episode 231 of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel titled “Brain Games and Mental Athletes” featured Vukoti and aired on June 21, 2016 on HBO.[42] The BBC documentary The Human Body: Secrets of Your Life Revealed showcased Vukoti's talent in the episode "Learn" and aired on October 9, 2017 on BBC Two.[43]

Vukoti has been featured in the award winning documentary film Spelling the Dream,[44][45][46][47][48] which released on Netflix on June 3, 2020 in over 190 countries. The film has generated positive reviews from around the world.[49][50][51][52][53][54]

Awards
Vukoti receiving the Global Child Prodigy Award from Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Kailash Sathyarthi
Awards and Recognition
Year Association Award Category Ref.
2017 Telugu Association of North America Special Recognition Award Spelling & Language [55]
2017 North America Telugu Society[56] Honorary Title

Dhaarana Vaamana

 Special Honor [57]
2020 Global Child Prodigy Awards[58] Global Child Prodigy Award 2020 Language [59][60]
2020 DreamCatcher Events Global Kids Achievers Awards 2020 Language [61]

Philanthropy

Vukoti has donated to various non-profit organizations like Children's Miracle Network in San Angelo, Wikipedia, Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, Telangana CM Relief Fund, Water.org and Kerala Floods Relief Fund. He has also donated to Bharat Ke Veer,[62] a website dedicated to the Indian paramilitary forces. Vukoti has also donated to non-profit organizations the American Red Cross Society and the Government of India's PM CARES Fund to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.[63]

References
  1. Sullivan, Bartholomew (May 25, 2016). "6-year-old Texan misspells word, ending his spelling bee competition". USA TODAY.
  2. French, Megan (May 26, 2016). "Scripps National Spelling Bee's Youngest Contestant Akash Vukoti Was Too C-U-T-E: See Him in Action". US Magazine.
  3. Weller, Chris (March 30, 2016). "Meet the 6-year-old genius who will steal the show at this year's national spelling bee". Business Insider.
  4. Moore, Jack (May 26, 2016). "This Six-Year-Old Was the First Star of the 2016 National Spelling Bee". GQ.
  5. Why 6-Year-Old Spelling Bee Whiz Akash Vukoti Became a Global Sensation - POPSUGAR, retrieved 2019-12-08
  6. Weir, Kelli. "G-E-N-I-U-S: Jackson Township siblings are among youngest Mensa members". The Repository.
  7. "Scripps National Spelling Bee". spellingbee.com.
  8. "Word Whiz Kids Tap Memory Tricks at Spelling Bee | Voice of America - English". www.voanews.com.
  9. "MastiSpell". MastiSpell 2012.
  10. "Gifted Program | Davidson Young Scholars". www.davidsongifted.org.
  11. Weir, Kelli. "G-E-N-I-U-S: Jackson Township siblings are among youngest Mensa members". The Repository. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  12. Shapira, Ian. ""A 6-year-old charms the National Spelling Bee before getting eliminated"". Washington Post.
  13. Farrington, Dana. ""6-Year-Old May Be Out Of Spelling Bee, But This Kid Is A Winner". NPR". NPR.
  14. "Vukoti wins San Angelo Area Spelling Bee". San Angelo. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  15. Gaitan, Michelle. "San Angelo Spelling Bee names new winner".
  16. Kirkl, Justin (2018-05-31). "The Kids Are A-L-R-I-G-H-T: Inside the Journey to Scripps' National Spelling Bee". Esquire. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  17. NUCKOLS, BEN. "Speller balances bee with reality TV, social media stardom".
  18. "Log into Facebook | Facebook". m.facebook.com. Retrieved 2020-04-11.
  19. "Scripps National Spelling Bee". spellingbee.com. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  20. Lee, Alicia. "National Spelling Bee canceled for the first time since WWII". CNN. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  21. "Little Big Shots | Steve Harvey and Akash Funny Spelling Bee | Season 1 2016 - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  22. Barrett, Daija (April 21, 2017). "Spelling Bee Whiz Akash Vukoti Returns to Little Big Shots". ConchoValley Homepage.
  23. Paschal, Nick (April 24, 2017). "Steve Harvey Schools Spelling Bee Champ on 'Words From the Hood'". Yahoo.
  24. "Precocious local speller drawing national attention, studying hard". gosanangelo.com. March 12, 2016.
  25. Gowra, Nikhita (2017-05-02). "W-o-n-d-e-r kid". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
  26. 13th Annual Jimmy Kimmel Live Spelling Bee, retrieved 2019-12-08
  27. "Jimmy Kimmel's Spelling Bee Competition Is Extra Challenging, Thanks to Guillermo". Hollywood Reporter. June 3, 2016.
  28. Seemayer, Zach (June 3, 2016). "Jimmy Kimmel Hilariously Challenges Spelling Bee Co-Champions to an Epic Showdown". ETOnline.
  29. "TV Show | Spelling bee | The Preachers FOX TV SHOW 2016". YouTube. 2016-07-11.
  30. Connick Jr., Harry, Harry's Spelling Bee Competition, retrieved 2019-12-08
  31. Kelly & Anthony Anderson Compete In Spelling Bee, 2020-11-10, retrieved 2020-11-12
  32. "Akash Vukoti - Dancing with the Stars". abc.com.
  33. Sutton, Samuel (December 10, 2018). "San Angelo whiz kid Akash Vukoti talks Dancing with the Stars and future plans". gosanangelo.com. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
  34. "CNN International | LIVE interview from 2016 | Akash Vukoti - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  35. "Akash Vukoti is the youngest competitor ever at the Scripps National Spelling Bee". 7news.com.au. July 3, 2019.
  36. The Youngest Spelling Bee Champ | Akash Vukoti Exclusive interview | TV9, retrieved 2020-04-18
  37. Vukoti, Akash. "latest". AKASH VUKOTI. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  38. Vukoti, Akash. "IBM Commercial". AKASH VUKOTI. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  39. Vukoti, Akash. "Amazon Kindle". AKASH VUKOTI. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  40. Vukoti, Akash. "Scripps Spelling Bee ESPN". AKASH VUKOTI. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  41. "Akash Vukoti - YouTube". www.youtube.com.
  42. Brain Games & Mental Athletes: Real Sports Trailer (HBO), retrieved 2019-12-08
  43. "The Human Body: Secrets of Your Life Revealed - Gallery". BBC Documentary.
  44. "Netflix to release documentary featuring San Angelo native, Akash Vukoti". ConchoValleyHomepage.com. 2020-03-27. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
  45. Goodrich, Barry (April 3, 2018). "What It Takes to W-I-N". clevelandmagazine.com/.
  46. "Breaking The Bee". clevelandfilm.org.
  47. Raj, Yashwant (May 27, 2018). "Breaking the bee: Indian kids are spelling out a new sport in America". Hindustan Times.
  48. "Spelling the Dream". Spelling the Dream. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  49. Qureshi, Bilal (2020-06-03). "'Spelling the Dream' Review: Words of Inspiration". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  50. Anderson, John (2020-06-02). "'Spelling the Dream' Review: A Long Spell of Dominance". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  51. Lee, Benjamin (2020-06-04). "Spelling the Dream review – slight but charming Netflix documentary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  52. "Spelling the Dream review: Decoding Indian magic". The Indian Express. 2020-06-04. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  53. Poorvaja, S. (2020-06-02). "'Spelling the Dream' review: How do you spell 's-u-c-c-e-s-s'?". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  54. Bradley, D. M. (2020-06-18). "Film Review: Spelling the Dream". The Adelaide Review. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  55. "TANA Patrika - January 2018". drive.google.com. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  56. "NATS WORLD - North America Telugu Society". NATS WORLD.
  57. "NATS Akshara Deepika - June 2017". drive.google.com. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  58. "Global Child Prodigy Awards - Official Website". web.archive.org. March 2, 2020.
  59. Rathore, Reena. "Young Indian American Geniuses Honored with '2020 Global Child Prodigy Awards'". India West.
  60. Jha, Ankur Kumar (2019-12-31). "KIIT Presents Global Child Prodigy Awards 2020 Honoring Top 100 Prodigies". thelogicalindian.com. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  61. "Global Kids Achievers Awards 2020 | New Delhi India - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-11-08.
  62. "India's Bravehearts | Bharat Ke Veer". bharatkeveer.gov.in.
  63. Vukoti, Akash. "Giving Back to Society". AKASH VUKOTI. Retrieved 2020-09-16.


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