Bet you can’t spell the word that a 13-year-old from Miami did to win the spelling bee

Vasundara Govindarajan knows all about the flutters of the spelling bee.

The 13-year-old from Archimedean Middle Conservatory won last year’s Miami Herald Spelling Bee and became a repeat champion on Tuesday when she correctly spelled the word, boiserie. (For those who need a little help, boiserie means sculptured paneling, especially that of French architecture in the 18th century.)

Vasundra also won the elementary school competition two years ago. And she’s following her brother, Vaidya, who also won a spot at the national spelling bee.

The seventh grader bested hundreds of public and private school students from Miami-Dade and Monroe counties in the Herald’s 77th annual Miami Herald Spelling Bee presented by Jackson Health System and Holtz Children's Hospital, held Tuesday at Jungle Island. She will represent the middle school division from Miami-Dade/Monroe at the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee, to be held from May 28 to June 4 in Washington.

Also winning Tuesday: Second-place contestant Kyler Pace and third-place contestant, Lauren Garcia-Stille.

The Broward spelling bee will be held Tuesday, March 14, at the Signature Grand, 6900 State Road 84 in Davie.

This story was originally published March 7, 2017 at 10:06 PM with the headline "Bet you can’t spell the word that a 13-year-old from Miami did to win the spelling bee."