The winner, Shifa Amankwah-Gabbey from Nagie’s Angels Educational Centre burst into tears upon the realisation she had correctly spelt the championship word, ‘Wamara’ to win the competition on her first attempt.

Her victory was met with cheers and a standing ovation from the spectators who had spent the final moments of the competition on the edge of their seats.

Shifa will now represent Ghana at the Scripps Spelling Bee international competition at Washington DC in the United States of America.

She walked away with GHc 5,000 in scholarship money as well as a ticket to Washington for the Scripps Spelling Bee international competition and $500 spending money.

Shifa was pushed hard by the two runners-up, Raj Thakwani and Akshaya Janikiraman, both from DPS International Ghana at Tema.

Various sponsors also presented bags of goodies to the winner and runners-up.

This was the 11th edition of the spelling bee and it was organised by the Young Educators Foundation, a Non-governmental Organisation.

In all, the contestants came from Tamale, Techiman, Kumasi, Ho, Aflao, Kasoa, Tema, Akosombo, Accra and Akropong.

The Spelling Bee 2018 was sponsored by Indomie Instant Noodles with support from South African Airways, DStv Ghana, Blue Knights Bookshop, Rufus Green Parks, and PAS – US Embassy, iSpace and Voltic Mineral Water.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The theme for this year’s Bee is ‘The relevance of the mother tongue in literacy’.

The event, which took place at the Osu Presbyterian Church Hall, brought together different people from all walks of life, including students from schools participating in the competition this year.

In her address, the Country Director of YEF, Eugenia Tachie-Menson lamented the lack of support for the initiative, citing it as the major stumbling block to the progress of the championship.

“The past ten years have not been rosy… The basic challenge we’ve had is the lack of understanding; a lack of appreciation for what it is we’re trying to do. In Ghana, when we say you’re learning, it typically should happen in a classroom and at the end of the day, you must have a certificate to show that you’ve been through learning,” she said.

“So when we approach schools and we say The Spelling Bee is a learning process where we’re teaching English but not as you know it but in a more effective way, we’re asked, ‘Do you have a certificate at the end of it?’ We’ve been told that on the WAEC list of nine subjects for BECE, spelling is not one and therefore it can not be seen as a serious subject,” she added.

In his address, the Dean of the Faculty of Language Education at the University of Education, Winneba, Dr  Charles Owu-Ewie pushed for the mainstream learning of Ghanaian local languages in basic and senior high schools.

The second lady, Samira Bawumia, who officially launched the 11^th edition of The Spelling Bee, Ghana reiterated the importance of reading for children especially.

“As an advocate for reading, I strongly believe that the more you read, the more you know; and the more you know, the more places you will go. … I’m happy that The Spelling Bee has inspired the reading culture amongst children,” she said.

She further lauded the Young Educators Foundation for the work it has done over the past ten years.

“We have made history twice at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. First, as the first and only African country to participate in the international competition with Maria Isabel Kubabom; and second with the phenomenal Afua Ansah, winner of the Spelling Bee in 2016, being the only African finalist in its ninety years existence. These are just a few of what the  Young Educators Foundation has been able to achieve over the period as I commend you immensely,” she added.

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By: Akosua Ofewaa Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Ananya Vinay from Fresno correctly spelled the word marocain – a type of dress fabric – to defeat Rohan Rajeev, 14, from Oklahoma.

The rivals had correctly spelled words including cheiropompholyx, durchkomponiert and tchefuncte as each waited for the other to slip up.

But Rohan misspelled the word marram and Ananya got two words right to win.

She said she felt “amazing” after her victory, adding: “It was just fun to see how far it would go.”

Could you have spelled these?

Here are some of the words Ananya and Rohan grappled with during their 45-minute spell-off.

Marocain – a heavy crepe fabric whose name is derived from the French word for Moroccan

Marram – a Scandinavian-derived word for a type of beach grass

Cheiropompholyx – a type of eczema affecting the skin of the hands and feet

Durchkomponiert – a German-origin word used to describe a song that is not based on repeated sections

Tchefuncte – relating to a Native American tribe that lived in Louisiana from 600 BC to 200 AD

Her father Vinay Sreekumar said she had a “deep passion for reading”.

Ananya – the thirteenth Indian-American in a row to win the spelling bee – said she planned to split the $40,000 prize money with her seven-year-old brother and put her share in an account for her college education.

More than 11 million youngsters aged between six and 15 from all 50 US states, US territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam and countries such as Japan and Jamaica had entered the competition.

The youngest-ever competitor, Edith Fuller of Tulsa, Oklahoma, who turned 6 in April, was eliminated from the competition last week.

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Source: BBC

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The JHS 1 student of Solidarity International School in Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region, beat 197 other spellers from across the country to win the ultimate.

At the grand finale of the competition in Accra on Saturday [February 4, 2017], Lily endured 7 grueling rounds of spelling.

Gabriella Ellis, 12, of Delhi Public School International and Ewoenam Afetsi, 13, of SOS Hermann Gmeiner emerged first and second runner-ups respectively.

The launch of this year’s competition, the 10th, since the maiden edition, was held under the theme, “Equipping the Ghanaian Students for the world stage.”

Dignitaries present included the Minister of Education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh; US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson; and the General Manager for De United Foods Industries Limited, Mahesh Shah.

The 2016 winner of the competition in Ghana, Efua Ansah, who emerged 20th in the subsequent US edition as well as a delegation from the US Scripps National Spelling Bee competition were also present.

Lily Tugbah for her prize, received an all expense paid trip to the US to represent Ghana at the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee.

She also received a GHs10,000 scholarship from Indomie, GHs 10,000 Ecobank Junior Savers account, a trophy, Merriam Webster dictionary, a DSTV decoder and other prizes from sponsors.

The first and second runners-up, Gabriella Ellis and Ewoenam Afetsi also received an all-expense paid trip to South Africa, a DSTV decoder, vouchers for Blue Knights bookshop and other assorted items from sponsors.

The best 10 performing spellers received iLearn tablets, while each of the participating spellers were given certificates of participation and products from sponsors.

Speaking to Citi News,  Lily Tugbah said she was grateful to her family and friends for the support and was looking forward to representing Ghana in the US for the competition there.

She noted that she has in the past participated in the championship but did not succeed, however she was determined to win hence reapplying to enter this year.

The National Spelling Bee competition is being championed in Ghana by the Young Educators Foundation (YEF), an international NGO that seeks to improve the lives of the youth through literacy.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The brilliant spellers were selected from over 140 competitors from 11 schools in the Tema Metropolis, who participated in the regional spelling bee competition held at the premises of DPSI in Community 25, Tema.

[contextly_sidebar id=”O1SOvaMHu73U6xtal02Ijicdfhutyv1u”]Two of DPSI pupils emerged as the best of the best in the exciting competition after they squared off in the written vocabulary test before racing for two rounds of oral spelling to covert the top spot.

A total of 65 spellers qualified to represent Tema in the National Spelling Bee Competition with DPSI having the highest number of spellers among after the marks scored by each pupil from the three rounds of the contest were accumulated.

The competition was organized by the Young Educators Foundation (YEF) in collaboration with Indomie Instant Noodle.

Mr. David Raj, the Principal of DPS International Ghana pointed out that, the decision to present pupils of DPS International Ghana to participate in the competition forms part of the school’s regulation to inspire the children to pursue excellence.

“We believe that by encouraging and assisting them to partake in programs of this nature, they will be exposed to the correct usage of the English Language by learning how to spell more words, the correct pronunciation of the words and their origin, to help them improve upon their general knowledge of the English Language to enable them speak it fluently.”

The Principal was optimistic that the participants of the Spelling Bee competition, would not only gain the direct benefits of an enriched English Language, but the competitive spirit of the program would also help them build their confidence in public speaking.

“It will also train the children to do away with fright whenever they stand before a huge gathering to speak,” he elaborated.

Mr. Mukesh V. Thakwani, Chairman of DPSI and B5 Plus Ltd was impressed with the outstanding performance of his pupils in the Regional Competition in which they excelled to qualify for the national challenge.

He urged them to work extra hard to win the national competition in order to represent Ghana at the Scripps Spelling Bee in the United States.

Deputy National Coach of Spelling Bee, Ghana, Emmanuel K. Afful, extolled pupils of DPSI for putting up an impressive performance at the event and emerging the best spellers.

He urged the school to always partake in such competitions for the development of the pupils and to show the way to other schools.

Some parents and guardians who took time off their busy schedule to witness their children’s wonderful feat at the competition were impressed.

A parent mentioned that he had noticed an immense improvement in his child’s spoken English since he started participating in the spelling competition.

He promised he would ensure that his ward partakes in all competitions in the school.

A 10-year-old Raj Thakwani, one of the young spellers of DPSI who has got a place in the national competition articulated joy in his breakthrough and promised to put out an exceptional performance to join the train for Scripps Spelling Bee.

Riyush Keshan, a grade 6 pupil who was the second top speller at the regional level assured the school of embarking on serious training to bring the national trophy to DPS International Ghana.

DPS International Ghana has won the National Spelling Bee competition for three consecutive years and recorded the highest performance at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the United State of America (USA).

The school is also noted for recording excellent results every year in the IGCSE examinations. The Spelling Bee is the local version of the internationally acclaimed Scripps Spelling Bee.

Now in its 10th year in Ghana, the competition is aimed at teaching pupils the correct pronunciation and usage of the English language.

It is also a platform to equip teachers with key approaches to the teaching of the English language.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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