As fifth-grader Radhika Dave spelled out the final word to win the Columbine area spelling bee last Thursday, her mother, Aditi, gave an excited fist pump.
Throughout the competition, Aditi Dave, a native of India, had been checking her daughter’s words on her phone, typing the letters as her daughter spelled.
When her daughter finished a word, her mother would know whether or not she had spelled it correctly before the judges announced the verdict. She pumped her fist with each correct spelling.