Varun Kumar, second from the left, Gold Medal Champion in the Atlanta Archdiocese spelling bee, is pictured with the other winners and Ceci McAuliffe representing the Archdiocese.

The word “mortgage” doesn’t usually bring a smile to most peoples’ faces, unless that person happens to be sixth grader Varun Kumar.

The Pinecrest Academy student correctly spelled that word to win the Gold Medal in the annual Spelling Bee held Jan. 29, 2013 at the Chancery for the Archdiocese of Atlanta.  Pinecrest is located in Cumming, Georgia. 

“The competition was an impressive display of the spelling ability of our students,” said Ceci McAuliffe, Director of Special Services for the Archdiocese.   She congratulated all the winners who competed after winning their local school spelling bees. 

The 19 participants spent over an hour, with 97 words used in the spelling bee, before Vuran was designated the winner after correctly spelling “mortgage.”