CAMBRIDGE, MA—More than 4,500 Indian Americans, including 1,400 students from across the United States attended the annual national finals of North South Foundation, a non-profit organization that gives 2,000 scholarships annually to the bright but economically disadvantaged students in India so they can achieve a college education.
2019 also celebrated the 30th Anniversary since the inception of North South Foundation. More than 1,400 kids from 27 states competed in 16 different contests.
“The 2019 National Finals was a huge success, thanks to the thousands of hours of tireless work put in by over 400 dedicated team of Volunteers,” said Savitha Rajiv, National Finals Convener of the North South Foundation.
As the Convener and organizer of the event, Ms. Rajiv was responsible for overseeing all the 20 different core committees. These committees were formed based on the functional tasks that needed to be performed during the pre- event, during event and post-event. Each committee had 2 leads who worked closely with the Convener to plan and execute that committee’s functional tasks.
Dr. Ratnam Chitturi, Founder of North South Foundation, applauded the grand success of the three-day convention, which was held on the MIT campus.
“Kudos to Savitha and her team for a wonderful and unforgettable event,” said Mr. Chitturi. “2019 Finals at MIT and 30th Anniversary watermark will remain a defining moment in the NorthSouth Journey.”
Madavi Nathan Oliver, one of the early volunteers of the Boston chapter of the North South Foundation and this year’s chair for the fundraising, said this year’s event was much bigger than 10 years ago.
“I have been involved with NorthSouth Massachusetts chapter since its inception and this is the second finals event we are conducting at MIT. This year’s event was much bigger than ten years ago, I think it is one of the largest annual event, drawing 1,500 contestants (and 2500+ parents) from all over the country to compete,” Ms. Oliver said. More than 400 Massachusetts and New Hampshire volunteers helped organize this event. The three days of competition were intense and we are proud of the young participants. We raised over $100,000 from generous Boston area entrepreneurs and businesses and are thankful for their support.”
Here are some of the activities of NorthSouth Foundation:
- NorthSouth conducts 17 different educational bees in the US each spring and hosts the National Finals in the summer .
- NorthSouth offers a wide variety of online coaching in educational topics including Math, Science, Geography as well as SAT coaching.
- NorthSouth also offers online classes in Universal Values and Life skills like Confidence Building & Computer Programming. https://www.northsouth.org/public/USContests/Coaching.
- NorthSouth offers online as well as onsite workshops in various educational topics to help the kids prepare for the upcoming contests.
- Ambassador Program for NorthSouth Alumni (APNA) is a program that will allow Indian American students in High schools and Colleges to volunteer in India during their summer break or any extended visit.
- The North South Alumni Association is made up of members who have phased out of contest age but would like to continue to be involved in various activities within the organization, including planning 5K runs, bike-a-thons, fundraising activities, table talks and mentorship.
Funding for the India Scholarship program comes from the above activities.
India Activities
- Since 2016, NorthSouth has offered Bee competitions in Spelling, Vocab, Math & Science in various chapters in India.
- Cash scholarship programs to fund college education to deserving kids.
- Non-cash scholarship programs including: Computer camps in high schools workshops in English, Math and Science.
- NorthSouth has partnered with the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya(JNV) schools in india to help the students and teachers from the rural areas in the over 600 schools actoss the country.
- NorthSouth has also signed MOUs with various Universities to reach out to more deserving students and fund their college education.
Here are winners in each category at this year’s competition:
| Rank | Child FName | Child LName | Grade |
| JUNIOR SPELLING BEE | |||
| 1 | Dhruv | Subramanian | 3 |
| 2 | Srinidhi | Rao | 3 |
| 3 | Shradha | Rachamreddy | 3 |
| 4 | Nithika | Rangan | 3 |
| 5 | Kavin | Elangovan | 3 |
| 6 | Neev | Shaw | 3 |
| 7 | Sriya | Gomatam | 3 |
| 8 | Vivinsha | Veduru | 3 |
| 9 | Anjali | Chauhan | 2 |
| 10 | Dhruv | Soundarapandian | 2 |
| SENIOR SPELLING BEE | |||
| 1 | Navneeth | Murali | 7 |
| 2 | Saharsh | Vuppala | 5 |
| 3 | Nitya | Kathiravan | 5 |
| 4 | Harini | Logan | 5 |
| 5 | Atman | Balakrishnan | 7 |
| 6 | Pranav | Nandakumar | 8 |
| 7 | Deetya | Vuppala | 5 |
| 8 | Vayun | Krishna | 6 |
| 9 | Megan | Lynch | 7 |
| 10 | Arya | Reddyvari | 7 |
| JUNIOR VOCABULARY BEE | |||
| 1 | Vivinsha | Veduru | 3 |
| 2 | Aveek | Sarkar | 2 |
| 3 | Tahan | Choudhury | 3 |
| 4 | Dhruv | Subramanian | 3 |
| 5 | Siddharth | Umamahesh | 2 |
| 6 | Diya | Balur | 3 |
| 7 | Abhinav | Nambi | 3 |
| 8 | Anay | Ganesh | 3 |
| 9 | Rohith | Konduri | 3 |
| 10 | Nithika | Rangan | 3 |
| INTERMEDIATE VOCABULARY BEE | |||
| 1 | Akhilsai | Damera | 7 |
| 2 | Ishya | Bhavsar | 6 |
| 3 | Nitya | Kathiravan | 5 |
| 4 | Megan | Lynch | 7 |
| 5 | Neha | Chelamkuri | 8 |
| 6 | Yuvan | Chali | 8 |
| 7 | Ranjana | Ramesh | 8 |
| 8 | Nithya | Krishna | 8 |
| 9 | Pranaav | Senthilkumar | 7 |
| 10 | Harini | Logan | 5 |
| MATH BEE LEVEL 1 | |||
| 1 | Alden | Raymond | 2 |
| 2 | Aryan | Shome | 2 |
| 3 | Aveek | Sarkar | 2 |
| 4 | Ved | Jhunjhunwala | 2 |
| 5 | Puranjay | Madupu | 2 |
| 6 | Rananjay | Parmar | 2 |
| 7 | Anay | Sahu | 2 |
| 8 | Advait | Joshi | 1 |
| 9 | Suhas | Devarakonda | 2 |
| 10 | Nirdvaita | Chandrana | 2 |
| MATH BEE LEVEL 2 | |||
| 1 | Zubin | Talwar | 4 |
| 2 | Suvam | Konar | 5 |
| 3 | Vishnu | Mangipudi | 5 |
| 4 | Sohil | Rathi | 5 |
| 5 | Advaith | Mopuri | 5 |
| 6 | Jiya | Singla | 5 |
| 7 | Harini | Venkatesh | 5 |
| 8 | Shrutodhee | Goswami | 5 |
| 9 | Adrita | Samanta | 5 |
| 10 | Kesav | Kalanidhi | 4 |
| MATH BEE LEVEL 3 | |||
| 1 | Bhushan | Mohanraj | 7 |
| 2 | Nilay | Mishra | 8 |
| 3 | Ritwin | Narra | 6 |
| 4 | Shaan | Keole | 7 |
| 5 | Garima | Rastogi | 7 |
| 5 | Shreev | Goyal | 7 |
| 7 | Akshay | Kumar | 8 |
| 8 | Aahan | Mehra | 8 |
| 9 | Rohith | Raghavan | 6 |
| 10 | Sukrith | Velmineti | 8 |
| JUNIOR GEOGRAPHY BEE | |||
| 1 | Lakshya Pradhyay | Veguru | 2 |
| 2 | Siddhu | Nagarajan | 3 |
| 3 | Rishik | Kundu | 3 |
| 4 | Pranav | Kuchibhotla | 2 |
| 5 | Yash | Jaju | 3 |
| 6 | John | Alex | 2 |
| 7 | Siddhanth | Kumar | 2 |
| 8 | Dhruv | Subramanian | 3 |
| 9 | Aaradhya | Pradhan | 3 |
| 10 | Advait | Duvvuru | 2 |
| SENIOR GEOGRAPHY BEE | |||
| 1 | Kaylan | Patel | 7 |
| 2 | Satvik | Pochiraju | 5 |
| 3 | Jishnu | Nayak | 6 |
| 4 | Aditya | Narayanan | 7 |
| 5 | Aaron | Castelino | 6 |
| 6 | Ashmith | Kumbala | 7 |
| 7 | Sreesragvee | Atluri | 7 |
| 8 | Avnith | Kumar | 6 |
| 9 | Adrija | Kundu | 8 |
| 10 | Nirmal | Melam | 4 |
| SENIOR ESSAY WRITING | |||
| 1 | Rishi | Nair | 9 |
| 2 | Avyay | Surampalli | 11 |
| 3 | Suhani | Balachandran | 10 |
| 4 | Aishani | Saxena | 10 |
| 5 | Anisha | Atre | 9 |
| 6 | Bharathan | Sundar | 10 |
| 7 | Abigail | Thomas | 9 |
| 8 | Aditya | Vargheese | 11 |
| 9 | Samarjit | Kaushik | 10 |
| 10 | Sreeya | Rakasi | 10 |
| SENIOR PUBLIC SPEAKING | |||
| 1 | Rajveer | Kindra | 10 |
| 2 | Avyay | Surampalli | 11 |
| 3 | Suhani | Balachandran | 10 |
| 4 | Hrushikesh | Saranu | 9 |
| 5 | Rishi | Nair | 9 |
| 6 | Aleena | Haris | 11 |
| 7 | Aryaan | Jena | 9 |
| 8 | Aishani | Saxena | 10 |
| 9 | Amir | Hameed | 9 |
| 10 | Anisha | Atre | 9 |
| SENIOR BRAIN BEE | |||
| 1 | Aryan | Verma | 11 |
| 2 | Gowri | Kamma | 10 |
| 3 | Priyanka | Senthil | 10 |
| 4 | Adhvika | Arunkumar | 10 |
| 5 | Ajay | Pathakamuri | 10 |
| 6 | Shreya | Mogulothu | 9 |
| 7 | Sreeniketh | Vogoti | 10 |
| 8 | Ayush | Noori | 11 |
| 9 | Ishan | Panpaliya | 9 |
| 10 | Deboshri | Kanjilal | 9 |
| JUNIOR SCIENCE BEE | |||
| 1 | Rajarshi | Mandal | 3 |
| 2 | Maya | Hulyalkar | 3 |
| 3 | Alden | Raymond | 2 |
| 4 | Sai Samhith | Kota | 2 |
| 5 | Anika | Malyavanatham | 3 |
| 6 | Dhruv | Subramanian | 3 |
| 7 | Navita | Mishra | 3 |
| 8 | Siddarth | Sankar | 3 |
| 9 | Aryan | Padarthi | 3 |
| 10 | Tahan | Choudhury | 3 |
| INTERMEDIATE SCIENCE BEE | |||
| 1 | Anand | Swaroop | 4 |
| 2 | Harini | Venkatesh | 5 |
| 3 | Arush | Goswami | 5 |
| 4 | Shrutodhee | Goswami | 5 |
| 5 | Rijul | Ashar | 5 |
| 6 | Anish | Kodali | 4 |
| 7 | Karan | Verma | 4 |
| 8 | Sohil | Rathi | 5 |
| 9 | Krivi | Partani | 4 |
| 10 | Sahasra | Yellepeddi | 5 |
| SENIOR SCIENCE BEE | |||
| 1 | Roshni | Parulekar-Martins | 8 |
| 2 | Vishnu | Mangipudi | 5 |
| 3 | Sukrith | Velmineti | 8 |
| 4 | Ilanchezhian | Palpandian | 8 |
| 5 | Vedang | Singhal | 8 |
| 6 | Chegu Vijay | Aashray | 7 |
| 7 | Rohan | Venkatesh | 7 |
| 8 | Sahana | Behera | 7 |
| 9 | Balaadithya | Muralitharan | 6 |
| 10 | Samyan | Nakkella | 8 |
| INTERMEDIATE BRAIN BEE | |||
| 1 | Madhalasa | Iyer | 8 |
| 2 | Aum | Jhaveri | 7 |
| 3 | Sriram | Kutty | 8 |
| 4 | Ajayteja | Kavuri | 6 |
| 5 | Vignesh | Anand | 8 |
| 6 | Shruti | Chakrapani | 8 |
| 7 | Karthik | Pyneni | 8 |
| 8 | Diya | Pendyala | 7 |
| 9 | Rakshit | Bisoi | 7 |
| 10 | Ridhay | Pasupuleti | 8 |
