Reporter's notebook - March 25

Can you spell ‘mozambique?’

After a 15-round competition in Albuquerque on Saturday, Akansha Nanda, a sixth-grader from Santa Fe, won the 2018 New Mexico Spelling Bee.

Local students Jaxon Bender, 10, and Jorge Barraza, 14, of Clovis, Timothy Roybal, 10, of Fort Sumner, Saisravya Bandla, 14, of San Jon and Brock Fowler, 13, of Floyd were among the 46 spellers who took part in the competition.

Akansha earned the victory by correctly spelling “mozambique,” a lightweight dress fabric in small fancy patterns that is loosely woven with a cotton warp and a mohair weft.

— Compiled by Staff Writer Jamie Cushman