From left: CISD 2026 Spelling Bee Runner Up Viyaan Mehta and CISD 2026 Spelling Bee Winner Krish Manjunath.
After 23 rounds and correctly spelling “galapago," Krish Manjunath, an eighth grader from CMS East, is the 2026 CISD Spelling Bee Champion. Viyaan Mehta, a seventh grader from CMS East, is the First Runner Up.
The 2026 CISD Spelling Bee was held Jan. 14 in the Pinkerton Cafeteria. Manjunath and Mehta were the last two spellers standing and will represent CISD by competing in the Dallas County Spelling Bee in March.
The CISD elementary and middle school campus Spelling Bee Winners who competed Jan. 14 were:
CAMPUS WINNERS
Md Habibur Rahman Raiyan, AUSTIN
Kavin Srikanth, CANYON RANCH
Saara Gunjati, COTTONWOOD CREEK
Aaron Sahu, DENTON CREEK
Wareesha Tiana, LAKESIDE
Akshara Balineni, LEE
Joanna Vipin, MOCKINGBIRD
Boa Ha, TOWN CENTER
Saachi Mehta, VALLEY RANCH
Sahai Patel, WILSON
Atiksh Biswas, CMS EAST
Viyaan Mehta, CMS EAST
Krish Manjunath, CMS EAST
Rylan Moreland, CMS NORTH
Aayush Chinchalkar, CMS NORTH
Elliot Jones, CMS NORTH
Pradhu Kanaparthi, CMS WEST
Adriyaman Kole, CMS WEST
Pragna Gulla, CMS WEST
Judges for the event were Director of Governmental Relations and Strategic Initiatives Cooper Hilton, Austin Elementary Principal Kristan Perryman, Director of ESL and Bilingual Programs Dr. Anita de la Isla, and ESL instructional Coach Megan Butkovich. Parent and Family Engagement Liaison Stacy McGill served as the Pronouncer. Administrative Assistant Jill Hickman organized the event and served as the Spelling Bee District Representative. Elementary Literacy and Social Studies Director Sabrina Khan served as the Master of Ceremonies and District Spelling Bee Coordinator.