National Spelling Bee reflects the economic success and cultural impact of immigrants from India

Since 1999, 28 of the last 34 Scripps National Spelling Bee champions have been Indian American. And most of those winners are the offspring of parents who arrived in the United States on student or work visas. The experiences of first-generation Indian Americans and their spelling bee champion children illustrate the economic success and cultural impact of the nation’s second-largest immigrant group. Many parents say they emphasize the value of education to their children because education was their pathway to the U.S. This year's bee begins Tuesday at a convention center outside Washington and, as usual, many of the expected contenders are Indian American.