2006 Jack and Jill National Spelling Bee champion Shivani Angappan.

Never say that small people can’t spell big words! Only six years old, Shivani Angappan, correctly spelled tongue-tangling words like “hippocampus,” “condyle,” “occipital,” “meninges,” and even “leukoblast” to win the 2006 Jack and Jill National Spelling Bee in April.

Beating top spellers up to twelve years of age, Shivani just said, “I love spelling,” to explain her first national win.

“She was a very active and energetic child,” says mother, a microbiologist, adding that Shivani began reading at two. “She started school when she was about two years old because she was a handful to keep around the house.”

Shivani is a prolific writer, creating school newsletters and travel journals with great enthusiasm. But she also enjoys creating art sculptures at school, usually using wood, bronze, wire, and even clay.

Shivani wanted to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, but will have to wait because there are no local organizations sponsoring children in her age group. This year, though, she’ll get to go as a cub reporter for Jack and Jill magazine.

As the Jack and Jill grand champion, she also received a $2,500 scholarship to Hanover College, a Medtronic defibrillator for her school, a bicycle, a high-quality globe, and a pedometer.

During the bee, Shivani tackled each challenge with a quiet confidence rare in one so young, while her father, a software engineer, and her mother.

“I can’t wait for the hardest words,” the champ told the judges, steadily making her way to the final spell-off against children as old as 12.Asked who would accompany her to the Scripps bee in late May, she said, “My dad!”