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DAWN in Education National Spelling Bee
On September 23, nine schoolchildren representing Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad sat proudly on stage with their shiny trophies, while the photographers clicked away before them. It was indeed a moment of glory for the children who had reached the finals in the third Dawn in Education National Spelling Bee contest organised in association with the British Council in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.
Nine finalists were selected from each of the participating cities, three for each age group (9-11, 12-14, and 15-17). The National Finals were held in Islamabad. Children from Karachi and Lahore flew in the night before with their coordinators and respective representatives of the Dawn offices. The enthusiastic of the participants was evident from the fact that they were engrossed in practicing their spelling even during the flight. The lively bunch seemed well-prepared and confident to give it their best shot when they got up on stage.
The day kicked off with an interesting round of words given to the youngest participants of the 9-11 age group. The first rotation of the Triple Sting round required the participants to spell two words each and for the next rotation, Sue Gilbert, the pronouncer, asked them to spell three words each. The next round was the Buzz at the end of which the children with the lower scores were eliminated, while those who had scored the highest points proceeded to the next round.
As the elimination round progressed, the parents in the audience were on the edges of their seats as last year’s 9-11 champion Iman Aziz Akhtar bagged the first place for the second time and made her family proud. Amna Pirzada from Preparatory School, Islamabad, was the first runner up. Zainab Arif of Resource Academia, Lahore, was the second runner up.
Similarly, the next age-group for 12-14 went through their rounds of words. There were some unlucky participants who could not spell through all the way, despite having come so prepared. It was Ralph Martins from St. Patrick’s High School who won first prize in the 12-14 age group. Amna Memon of Preparatory School, Islamabad was the first runner up in the 12-14 group while Haneen Khalid from Headstart School Islamabad was second runner up.
Towards the end of the 15-17 age group elimination round, the anticipation grew as Sakina Shah from Bahria College, Karachi, and Zainab Fatima Arian from EMS High School, Islamabad, were locked in a tug-of-war of words. The round went on to almost ten rotations as each of them moved head to head. Eventually after the nail-biting session, Sakina spelt her way through as the champion. Sanaa Bajwa of LACAS Girls Branch, Karachi, was the second runner up in the 15-17 age category. The top three winners of each category won cash prizes and trophies, awarded by the Director of English Language Training in Pakistan, Humera Ahmed of British Council.
Parents, teachers and children alike were very pleased with the organized event and enjoyed being part of the Spelling Bee. The adults held the view that events such as this encourage children to involve themselves more enthusiastically in academics related activities.
This year the pool of 240 schools registered in Karachi included seven schools from Hyderabad and also included participation of IDA Rieu School for the Deaf and Blind. Lahore had 100 schools competing. Lahore also brought in 23 schools from various outstation regions such as Sialkot, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sahiwal, Kasur, Gujrat, Jhang, Okara. Islamabad had 80 schools entering the competition. The Islamabad round also had participation of schools from Abottabad, Peshawer, Azad Kashmir, D.I. Khan, Kharian, Mangla, Murree, Lower Topa, Rawlakot, Risalpur, Sargodha, Kohat, Mianwali, Swat, Attok, Chakwal, Mardan.
The competition wouldn’t have been possible without the untiring support of British Council, Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, for helping us with the selection of judges and pronouncers for the competition. Mrs Sue Gilbert and Mrs Pamela Taylor worked tirelessly in compiling the wordlist. Ms Humera Ahmed, Director English Language Teaching (BC), awarded trophies and prizes to the winners at the finals in Islamabad.
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