Akash Vukoti (born May 29, 2009) is an American child prodigy, TV personality, and motivational speaker from San Angelo, Texas. He competed for a record 6 times at the Scripps National Spelling Bee and was the first-ever first grader to compete in the bee. His first television appearance was in the NBC TV show Little Big Shots with Steve Harvey in March 2016.
Academic achievements
Vukoti competed in his first spelling bee when he was 2 years old. He was inducted into American Mensa at the age of 3 and became a Davidson Young Scholar at the age of 5. He became the first-ever first grader to compete in the history of the Scripps National Spelling Bee at the age of 6 years, in 2016. He later competed in the 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bees. This made Vukoti the only person to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee for a record 6 times. Television shows & media coverage Vukoti was featured on several TV shows, such as Little Big Shots in Season 1 (2016), Season 2 (2017) and Little Big Shots UK (Episode 4) in 2017. He was also featured on the Steve Harvey talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and The Preachers in 2016. He appeared as a guest on the Harry show in 2017. Akash was also featured on The Kelly Clarkson Show on November 10, 2020.
On September 25, 2018, Vukoti was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on Dancing with the Stars: Juniors, a spin-off of Dancing with the Stars.
Documentaries and films Vukoti has been featured in HBO and BBC documentaries. Episode 231 of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel titled “Brain Games and Mental Athletes” featured Vukoti and aired on June 21, 2016, on HBO. The BBC documentary The Human Body: Secrets of Your Life Revealed showcased Vukoti's talent in the episode "Learn" and aired on October 9, 2017, on BBC Two.
He was featured in the award-winning documentary film Spelling the Dream.
Filmography Film YearTitleRoleNetworkRef.2017The Human Body: Secrets of Your Life RevealedSelfBBC2020Spelling the DreamNetflix
Television YearTitleChannelNotesRef.2016Little Big ShotsNBCSeason 1, Episode 1; Aired March 8 Season 1, Episode 9; Top 10 Moments; Aired May 82016Steve HarveySyndicationAired March 112016Jimmy Kimmel Live!ABCAired June 22016Real Sports with Bryant GumbelHBOBrain Games; Aired June 212016The PreachersSyndicationAired July 112017Little Big Shots UKITVAired March 292017Little Big ShotsNBCSeason 2, Episode 7; Aired April 232017HarrySyndicationAired April 272018Dancing with the Stars: JuniorsABCEliminated 7th in the 6th week; Aired October 7 to November 182020AkashamantaTV9 TeluguTelevision special; Aired January 132020The Kelly Clarkson ShowSyndicationSeason 2; Aired November 10
Awards
YearAssociationAwardCategoryRef.2017Telugu Association of North AmericaSpecial Recognition AwardSpelling & Language2017North America Telugu SocietyHonorary Title Dhaarana VaamanaSpecial Honor2020Global Child Prodigy AwardsGlobal Child Prodigy Award 2020Language
Personal life Akash Vukoti is the son of Chandrakala Jandyam and Dr. Krishna M Vukoti, who immigrated to the United States from Andhra Pradesh, India. Akash has an elder sister Amrita, who is also a Davidson Young Scholar and a member of Mensa. Both Amrita and Akash Vukoti competed in the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Philanthropy Vukoti has donated to various non-profit organizations like Children's Miracle Network in San Angelo, Wikipedia, Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, Telangana CM Relief Fund, Water.org and Kerala Floods Relief Fund. He has also donated to Bharat Ke Veer, an Indian government initiative supporting the families of deceased Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles personnel. Vukoti has also donated to non-profit organizations the American Red Cross Society and the Government of India's PM CARES Fund to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
References