LOS ANGLES–Alex Pilibos eighth-grader Amir Kasouha was ranked 17th in the nation during Thursday’s Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington.
Kasouha–who was the winner of the Daily News Spelling Bee in March–went to Washington and was a semi-finalist until he was stumped on the word "theriomorphic," thus not becoming part of the 16 finalists to compete.
"Getting 17th [place]–that’s pretty good–especially for coming here the first time," Kasouha told the Daily News on the telephone from Washington.
The first-place award went to 12-year-old Jamaican Jody-Anne Maxwell who won a trophy and a $10,000 prize for spelling the word "chiaroscurist."
"We are proud of Amir and his national accomplishmen’s," said Alex Pilibos principal Viken Yacoubian.
