14 year old, Amalitinga Silas from Great
Victory Academy in Bolgatanga outwitted 40 other spellers to emerge as the ultimate
winner in this year’s ‘Spelling Bee’ competition organised for selected primary
and junior high schools in the Bolgatanga Municipality.
The five gruelling
rounds of spelling saw Master Vitus Ayariga of the Sacred Heart Junior High
School, claiming the second position with 11 year old primary 6 pupil, Abdul
Mutalib Fongo also from Great Victory Academy settling as the third top speller.
The brilliant spellers who exercised prowess in the said oral discipline were
among one hundred and 60 competitors that managed to sail through the
qualifying stages held in January this year.
Report
This year’s ‘Spelling Bee’ competition featuring 12 primary and junior high schools
within the Bolgatanga municipality follows the successful outcome of a similar
event held in March last year.
In the said event Sacred Heart JHS were deemed
the favourites after putting up an impressive performance to assume the top
position.
The second annual competition is being championed by Overcomers Club,
a non-profit organisation that is centred on improving academic excellence
among students in the Bolgatanga Municipality and beyond.
In 2012, students
from the Upper East Region led by Mr Joseph Abongo, a spelling Bee facilitator won
gold and bronze in the National ‘Hard Spell’ Competition held at the Legon
campus in Accra.
The success story, however gave cause for Overcomers Club, to
replicate it at the district level so as encourage reading habits among
students.
The idea is to take it up to the regional level whilst preparing
winners for the national events such as the Indomie National Spelling Bee
Competition which has been in existence without the participation of schools
from Northern Ghana.
This year’s event saw both primary and Junior High
Students battling for the ultimate prize.
At the end of the keenly contested
battle, 14 year old, Amalitinga Silas from Great Victory Academy in Bolgatanga
outwitted other spellers to emerge as the ultimate winner.
Master Vitus Ayariga
of the Sacred Heart Junior High School, was the second runner up with the
youngest competitor being 11 year old primary 6 pupil, Abdul Mutalib Fongo also
from Great Victory Academy claiming the 3rd position.
 |
| Abdul Mutalib Fongo |
The competitors aged between 11 and 15 were
exposed to spell words such as, anthropomorphism, Ambivalence, Ambidextrous, Chrysanthemum,
Holocaust, Equanimity, Nostalgia, Androgynous and Binoculars among others.
The mood at the venue was quite
tensed and the expression on the faces of some spellers was that of sheer
uneasiness.
One could easily read from their unusual gestures especially those
that were competing for the first time.
The
winners received some packages from sponsors as well as citations and trophies.
Each of the participating spellers were also honoured with certificates of
participation.
Experts say Spelling Bee is meant to enrich students’ vocabulary
and their general proficiency with language.
It equally words helps in laying
the basic foundation for every school going child.
The Talensi District
Director of Education, Madam Stephanie Mosore who represented as the guest
speaker stressed that bad spelling gives others a bad impression about the
speller.
She said in a situation where a child is unable to get pronunciations,
grammar and punctuation right, his/her grades is invariably affected.
Madam
Mosore therefore challenged schools in the various districts to make reading and
spelling part of their co-curricular activities.
She also challenged school heads
to consider organising such events on regular basis as this will give students
exposure and build their confidence levels.
A Former lecturer at the KNUST and a Specialist in
International Relations, Dr Augustine Awuni said considering the level of
enthusiasm displayed by both the contestants and audience, he was convinced
that Spelling Bee has come to stay, therefore the onus lies on schools to
prioritize such events.
Story by GBC
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