Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Spelling bees buzz with excitement

PHOTO: RAJU V.

Tongue-twister!: A student spells a word asked by the judges at the city-level finals of the spelling contest held in Vijayawada on Tuesday. —

VIJAYAWADA: It was all about educating oneself the fun way. An ample demonstration to show that learning to spell words correctly for a child does not have to be a boring activity. Hyderabad-based Phoenix Event Management Services Private Limited conducted a spelling competition for schoolchildren in the city on Tuesday.

The 34 participants short-listed from close to 800 children from eight local schools that participated in the preliminary round assembled at Nirmala High School.

“The activity is aimed at helping children remember spellings. The simple exercise of writing out words will not only help a child remember spellings but also help them memorise longer words. Correct pronunciation is another major issue,” said Naser, the director of the organisation.

The organisers gave a list of 1,000 difficult words a week in advance to all the participants. As part of the contest, the students were called individually and asked to spell out the words given at random by Sheena, a representative of Phoenix. The organisers acted generous and allowed the contestants to write down the word for self-verification before spelling it aloud.

S. Karthik of N.S.M. Public School, Patamata, emerged winner of the city round, while his close contender S. Rohit from Kennedy International Residential High School came second. Karthik had to prove his mettle in the final round organised to break the tie between him and Rohit.

Ananth John of N.S.M. Public School was adjudged the third best, while Ravi Teja, also from Kennedy International Residential High School, occupied fourth place.

The four boys are now qualified to participate in the State-level competition scheduled to be held sometime in January.

“Schoolchildren of this city have actually come across as a surprise package. They are too good, more than what we had actually expected them to be,” admitted Mr. Naser.

Sub-Collector Gaurav Uppal, who was the chief guest, handed over medals to the winners. He said such events helped children shift to a competitive mode and give out their best in order to get noticed.

“We saw television channels designing reality shows for children based on film songs and dance numbers. We wanted to do something constructive, especially in the wake of the ‘distortion’ of English spellings, thanks to emails and SMS services. This spelling test will not only enrich their vocabulary but also familiarise them with pronunciation of tough words,” said Ms. Sheena.

The participants included students from Delhi Public School, N.S.M. Public School, Nirmala High School, Nalanda Vidya Niketan, St. John’s Public School and Kennedy School (two campuses).

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