ST. LOUIS COUNTY (KSDK) - A Parkway West Middle School student is heading to the Scripps National Spelling Bee for the second year in a row.
On Monday NewsChannel 5 sat down with him, and he shared his secret about spelling words by learning their roots.
"It's like a puzzle. You find the pieces, you get the roots, and then you put it together and see if you're right," said Gokul Venkatachalam.
Venkatachalam made it to the sixth round of the semi-finals last year in Washington D.C.
This year, his goal is to make it to the finals.
By the way, the word that won him the local spelling bee was "bruschetta."
KSDK