WASHINGTON, DC - Kavya Shivashankar has just won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in her fourth and final appearance tonight in the final rounds televised live from Washington tonight.

Kavya, 13, spelled her way through three tough rounds this morning as a top 41 semi-finalist. She roared through the finals, finishing with the word "laodicean," meaning a lukewarm interest in religion or politics.

Her father, Mirle Shivashankar is also her spelling coach, and said the entire family is thrilled with her victory after seeing her get so far so fast today.

The fourth round of the Bee actually saw few competitors drop from the list.

The notorious fifth and sixth rounds of the Bee, which are usually tougher, shaved the 36 remaining spellers down to 11.

Kavya, who finished the eighth grade at California Trail Junior High School this month, spelled ergasia, kurta and escritoire correctly to advance to the prime-time finals. After spelling "montblache," a dessert made from gelatinous foods, she was on her way to the title. The competition was held in the Ballroom of the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C. and aired live on ABC.

The 13-year old 8th grader is the winner of a $30,000 college scholarship from Scripps and an engraved trophy, a $2,500 savings bond and reference library from Merriam-Webster, a $5,000 scholarship from Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation, $2,800 in reference works and the Britannica Test Prep Precocious Program, valued at $799, from Encyclopedia Britannica.