Nkosentsha Khumalo
Brunette Tshuma
Last week, Coghlan Primary School in Bulawayo was this year’s venue for the battle of the brains, which witnessed a number of primary schools coming together for the finals of the Bulawayo Public Library (BPL) Spelling Bee Competition, sponsored by Windscreen Centre.
Windscreen Centre, a Bulawayo based windscreen seller and fitment entity with branches in some parts of the country, has continued with its support as the primary sponsor of the BPL Spelling Bee Competitions for the past three years.
While the Bulawayo Public Library and Windscreen Centre has had a long-standing partnership in the spelling bee competitions, this year saw for the first time that Akello Library, a member of the Cassava group, come on board as a stakeholder.
Akello Library’s participation in the competition is to bolster the expansion, expand its reach, and further emphasize its commitment to promoting literacy and education within Bulawayo and beyond.
Schools came from afar as Zvishavane, with Erry Apple coming in as the defending champions, and some from Gweru and Kwekwe. Bulawayo had several Primary School students with Coghlan as the hosts.
Grades 5s and 6s were the participants.
The linguistic Spelling Bee battle, sought to test the spelling skills of the young learners, but also proved to be a riveting spectacle as everyone present in the venue awaited with abated breath to witness the crowning of the spelling champion.
This battle of spelling prowess was very intense, with words such as Lieutenant, Refrigerator, Manoeuvre, Sapphire, Accommodation, Ceiling, Poisonous, Pretentious, Grotesque, Squibble, Guillotine, Entrepreneur, and Chauffeur, among others, giving the young ones problems.
Each correctly spelt word brought the participants one step closer to victory, while each incorrect spelling threatened to topple them from the ranks of the spelling elite.
The tension in the Spelling Bee venue was very tense, as spellers stood poised and ready to prove their worth in this battle for the brains.
The Spelling Bee competition brought together a diverse group of schools, who were all eager to showcase their students’ spelling prowess.
Among the institutions represented at the event were Pace College, Cana Primary School, LadyBird Junior School, Ross Camp Primary School, Once Upon a Child Primary School, SOS Primary, and the hosts.
The triumphant winner of the Grade 6 Spelling Bee was a student from Cana Primary School, toppled the defending champions bu demonstrating remarkable spelling skills throughout the competition.
As a champion, she was awarded with a prize of paid part school fees of US$100, a school uniform, and a floating trophy sponsored by Windscreen Centre. Akello Digital Library chipped in with a brand new Core i5 laptop and a T-shirt. The BPL added reading books unto the prize.
Perhaps the most exciting part of her win is that she has a portion of her school fees for the next academic year already paid for by the generous sponsor, lessening the burden of paying the school fees from her parents.
Her journey from last year’s finalist to this year’s winner is a true testament to her hard work and dedication.
The Grade 5 spelling bee was a heated competition, with students from various schools vying for the coveted title. However, it was SOS Primary School in Bulawayo that emerged victorious, spelling the word “interrupt” correctly when all other competitors faltered.
The young student from SOS Primary School demonstrated impressive focus and poise under pressure, earning themselves the title of Grade 5 Spelling Bee Champion. This student will go on to compete in next year’s finals as a front-runner, with the chance to claim even greater spelling glory.
She managed to win by spelling the word “interrupt” correctly.
This was a stunning result as many of the participants had also demonstrated remarkable spelling skills throughout the competition, correctly spelling even more difficult words such as ‘Chauffeur’, ‘Sapphire’, and ‘Lieutenant’, however most of the learners were vexed by even more simpler words during the competition.
The Spelling Bee
battle was of an unpredictable nature, as a seemingly simple word like ‘Interrupt’ caught many of the participants off guard and proved to be the decisive factor.
The winning Spell Bee coach, Mrs. J Tholana, who teaches at SOS Primary School and also works as a private teacher, spoke proudly about her students’ success, saying,
“I have been leading the Spelling Bee Club since October, and I must admit, some words were quite challenging for the learners. We started with simple words and gradually moved to more complex ones.
“To conquer these hurdles, we sat down as a team and discussed the correct spelling of the more difficult words. I believe we truly deserved the first place prize because we put in a lot of effort to achieve it.”
Mrs. Tholana also emphasized the importance of consistent practice stating that,
“We always make it a point to do spelling bee exercises every week, which has proven to be a crucial factor in our victory. This competition was not only a great way to test our knowledge, but it will also be beneficial for our revision in the future. I’m confident that the skills and lessons learned from this experience will serve my students well as they continue their educational journey.”
After clinching first place in the Spelling Bee competition, a Grade 5 learner from SOS Primary School shared with this publication that she was astounded to have emerged as the champion.
“Ever since I started participating in the spelling bee, my writing has improved considerably. To further enhance my spelling skills, I make it a point to practice words that are beyond the ordinary. This additional practice has been extremely helpful in strengthening my overall spelling capabilities.
“My parents have also been a source of great support, as they have helped me practice spelling at home.”
The young spelling bee champion expressed her astonishment at the success, saying, “I am elated and surprised at having won this award. Although I faced some challenging words during the competition, such as interrupt and accommodation, which almost caught me off guard with the number of ‘m’s, I am proud of my accomplishment.”
Expressing her joy and disbelief at her student coming in second place, Mrs. Makudo from Llittle Birds Primary School from Zvishavane, said,
“I am elated beyond words at our school’s achievement in this spelling bee competition. It is truly a remarkable moment for Little Birds Primary School.”
Mrs. Makudo went on to explain the school’s method for improving vocabulary, saying,
“Our students are given specific words to learn and read every week. This practice has proven to be quite beneficial in expanding their vocabulary.”
However, Mrs. Makudo expressed her concern regarding the pronunciation of words during the competition, saying,
“One of the challenges we faced during the spelling bee was the difference in pronunciation of certain words. While we teach our learners to listen to the sounds and pronunciation of words, the way some of the words were pronounced in the competition differed from what they are used to. This confused many of our learners.”
Reflecting on the Spelling Bee and her experience, the runner-up from Little Birds Primary School expressed her gratitude to the school, saying,
“I am truly thankful to Little Birds Primary School for providing us with textbooks to practice our spellings. Without their support, my performance in the competition may not have been as strong.”
She then recounted the words that gave her the most trouble, saying,
“I had a lot of difficulty with words like Mississippi, and ultimately, it was Interrupt that knocked me out of the competition.”
Mrs. L. Wutete, a teacher at Tshebetshebe Elementary School and coach of the Spelling Bee team, shared her insights during an interview with Zim GBC News.
“As humans, we have a tendency to become narrowly focused, which is something that was evidenced in our preparation for this competition.
“We were given a list of words to work with, and that’s where we put all our emphasis. This approach proved to be a pitfall for the participants, as we didn’t anticipate words outside of the provided list, which unfortunately led to many participants being eliminated.”
Mrs. Wutete continued, “This experience has taught us the importance of diversifying the words we teach our students, as we should not only focus on the words that are given to us but also include words beyond those in our practice sessions. This way, we can effectively improve our students’ vocabulary and prepare them for any unexpected curveballs.
“A prime example was the word accommodation, which was not part of the list we were provided with, and this proved to be a challenging hurdle for many of the participants.”
The Spelling Bee competitions elicited varied reactions from parents, teachers, and other stakeholders.
Some expressed concern over the method used to select the words, suggesting that providing students with a list in advance may encourage rote cramming rather than genuine understanding of the words.
Mr. Gocha, representative of Akello Digital Library, in the sidelines of the competition commented,
“The (Bulawayo) Public Library, should not give out a list to schools, instead, they must extract words from text books and novels used by students. Giving out a list prior to the competition lessens the excitement.”
Some teachers noted that to, improve the competition, they urged that organizers to consider providing participants with textbooks or other reading materials which will allow them to select words to spell from those sources.
This approach will encourage reading, more natural word retention and deeper comprehension.
Zim GBC News ©2024