Boy Wins Long Island Spelling Bee

BETHPAGE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A 10-year-old boy is heading for the national spelling bee competition after coming in first on Long Island.

Naman Shakrani, a student at W.T. Clarke Middle School in East Meadow, competed against the top 21 spellers in the finals of Long Island's annual spelling bee. After 10 rounds, he won on Thursday after successfully spelling "noctograph," a writing instrument used by the blind.

Now, he's headed for the National Bee in suburban Maryland on June 1-2.

His father, Kamlesh Shakrani, said Naman studied by memorizing the hardest words he could find in a 2,600-page dictionary.

The Long Island contestants had to win bees at their local schools, then more than 100 spellers completed a written test to be in the finals.

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