The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Spelling

  • Pupil wins spelling bee competition

    Pupil wins spelling bee competition

    Nine-year old Benyaan Shuaibu has emerged winner of a spelling bee competition organised for Students in West Africa and the United Kingdom (UK).

    She was awarded N50, 000 and a certificate.

    Joan Abimiku came second and received N30, 000 while Jemimah Obadiah came third and went home with N20, 000.

    Nineteen  pupils registered for the spelling bee organised for pupils from Nigeria, Liberia and the UK by a non-profit organisation, Yspot.

    The competition was the eight in the series and it focused on students aged 8-10 years.

    After she was declared winner, Benyaan said: “I feel happy that I came first. I feel proud to win the competition. My advice to others on how to do well in their spellings is to study hard and have a positive spirit.”

    Yspot Executive Director, Temitope Olukomogbon, said the annual spelling bee competition was designed to build, improve, and develop children’s confidence, communication and public speaking skills, presentation and cognitive skills as well as their ability to thrive under pressure, shaping their attitudes for life.

    Read Also: UPDATED: APGA, ADP, NRM presidential candidates, others lobby Tinubu for inclusion

    She said: “We believe children are the leaders of tomorrow; therefore, having the right foundation is paramount. It is said that an individual cannot do better than the knowledge he has. We believe the more you know, the greater your chances at excelling in life. Hence, we have a passion to help children become outstanding adults in the future.

    “The motivation for organising this competition up until this 8th year is the passion for education and the need to create a platform for young minds to shine and also ignite their love for learning. The competition is not just an event but a beacon of inspiration for aspiring learners and a celebration of the potential within each child.

    “My advice to parents and children is that mastering spellings and participating in competitions like this cultivates not only strong communication skills but also boosts self-confidence and a lifelong love for learning in children. So I will encourage more parents to enroll their children and wards in the next edition of Yspot Smart Minds spelling bee competition.”

  • Firm seeks redemption through spelling bee

    Teammasters, an education consulting firm, hopes to contribute to reversing the decay in the education sector through its spelling bee competition.

    Rotimi Eyitayo, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the firm, said the competition, now in its seventh year, provides a platform for their intervention in boosting quality education without resorting the conventional classroom teaching and learning method.

    “When you see someone like myself train and speak, people admire the courage; they admire the level of confidence – even if it is a thousand or 2,000 you are speaking to.  We had the desire to see how we could translate that same confidence right in the kids outside the classroom. We looked at it and said what way can we train these kids consistently and achieve a particular result without necessarily taking them through the classroom method? And that was what gave birth to the spelling bee project that was launched October 14th 2008,” he said.

    He said through the competition, which is open to primary and secondary school pupils, aged 6-17 in four categories (lower primary, upper primary, junior and senior secondary), the pupils not only learn to undertake rigorous preparation for the competition which was inspired by popular movie, Akeelah and the Bee, they also learn confidence and public speaking.

    Though the competition is open to both public and private school pupils, Eyitayo lamented that participation from public schools has been low.  He said even when they got a sponsor for 200 public school pupils, they struggled to get 40 because of government bureaucracy.

    “Public schools are not allowed to pay because it is a free education.  But what we do is that during the registration, 20 students are selected to participate.  Even at that we have unnecessary bottlenecks. There was a particular occasion that the sponsors wanted about 200 students. You will be shocked that we were struggling to get 40 because of the bottleneck.  The level of openness working with public schools has been a challenge,” he said.

    To address that challenge this year, Eyitayo said the organisers have not limited registration to schools.  He said individuals can register on their own – perhaps sponsored by their parents; while institutions can also register pupils in their host communities.  That way, he hopes that by the time registration closes on November 30, many more pupils from various classes of schools would have entered for the competition, which kicks off with the district stage in December.

    The competition would progress to the state finals early next year and climax with the national finals.

    In the past six editions, Eyitayo noted that winners have emerged from both big name elite schools and little-known private schools from Lagos and 15 other states.

     

  • 16-year-old gets ‘easy’ Spelling bee victory

    16-year-old gets ‘easy’ Spelling bee victory

    •I was 89 per cent ready, says Idowu

    Idowu Sonoiki’s victory in the 2015 Spelling Bee competition for public secondary schools in Lagos State last Wednesday was a classic lesson in the value of perseverance.

    The 16-year-old, whose English Language teacher, Mrs Lucy Obiakalusi, said he had been chasing the trophy for years, finally cruised to a comfortable victory with the word, Fettuccine, a type of Roman and Tuscan pasta.

    Few among the top government functionaries, sponsors, teachers, and pupils at the grand finale held at the Adeyemi-Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Lagos, had heard of the word before the spelling bee moderator, Mr Morounfolu Ojutiku, pronounced it.  So, when Idowu spelt it correctly, he was hailed as a genius.

    The competition was not for the unprepared or fainthearted.  Fifty-seven pupils who had emerged as the best from the 20 Local Government Areas, and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDA)of Lagos State were the ones privileged to mount the exalted stage.  However, with some of the words being spelt as the competition advanced having French, Spanish, Latin or Greek origins, many contestants unaccustomed with the distinctions they create, fell by the way side.

    By the final round, the contestants were confronted with words like pirouette, arpeggio, trochee, palim-bacchus, jalousie, and the like.  However, Idowu did not falter at all.  Unlike other contestants, he did not have to repeat the spelling of any word.  He spelt each word with a confident smile.

    In an interview, Idowu said he was 89 per cent prepared for the competition.  The SS2 pupil of Ikotun Senior High School, Ikotun in Igando-Ikotun local Council Development Area, said he was inspired to try harder after losing in the fourth round of the competition last year.

    He said: “I feel very excited.  I was 89 per cent prepared.  I prepared right from last year when I misspelled a word called Micromatosis.  I went out in round four. I was bitter.  From then my Dad told me that I should start working hard; that One Day governor is not what I can joke with.  So, I decided to start working right away.  I used encyclopedia; spelling bee dictionary; I used a large hard copy encyclopedic dictionary in my principal’s office.  And I checked from the internet past words from spelling bee.”

    Idowu was rewarded with a star prize of N250,000, a trophy, and  smartphone from Etisalat, among other gifts.  The first and second runners up, Faaizi Abdullaidi of Omole Senior High School, Ojodu and 14-year-old Master Fehinti Dahunsi of Lagos State Senior Model College, Kankon got cheques of N200,000 and N150,000 each.

    As part of the reward for his victory, Idowu would act as the Governor of Lagos State for One Day on a yet to be announced date.  That day, which is usually memorable for contestants, features visits to various public and private sector offices, and culminates in a meeting with the incumbent governor.  The winners usually go home with gifts from the trip.

    In her speech, the Commisisoner for Education, Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye, described the One Day Governor reward as a unique opportunity that motivates winners.

    “Let me emphasise that today’s winner has the opportunity of acting as the Governor of the state for one day.  Suffice it to say that this peculiar experience has, over the years, continued to motivate our students to strive harder as manifested in the keen tempo that has been the hallmark of the competition,” she said.

    In her address, the Director-General, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Mrs Ronke Soyombo, noted that the competition improves children’s ability to read and cements the connection between sounds and letters.

    “Spelling words help lay a basic foundation that every student will need throughout their educational life,” she said.

    In the primary school category of the competition decided penultimate Wednesday, Boluwatife Tijani of Araromi Primary School Orile-Agege, won the star prize of N150,000.  She was followed by Iretiola Ifaniyi of Methodist Primary School, Ibeshe, and Jonathan Awobodu of Abesan Priamry School, Mosan Okunola in the second and third position.

    Dignitaries at the event included wife of the Lagos State governor, Dame Emmanuella Abimbola Fashola, represented by Mrs. Ladun Ogunbanwo; the Chairman, House Committee on Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Wahab Alawiye-King; the representative of Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Prof. Kolawole Raheem and the Head of Department Devices, Etisalat, Mr. Olayiwola Onafowokan.

  • National Spelling Bee to begin next year

    Some April next year, the maiden edition of National Spelling Bee Competition will kick off in Africa’s most populous nation-Nigeria. Interested states willing to enroll their wards would be allowed to participate by formally applying for the forms, which will be available in November. Twenty five pupils, each representing 25 schools, will be taken from each state, said Young Educators Foundation (YEF), organiser, of the event.

    The grand finale, according to its organiser, has been tentatively fixed for April next year in Calabar, Cross River State.

    Explaining to reporters what the event is all about, YEF Country Director, Mrs. Eugenia Tachie-Menson, said the contest is targeted at primary school pupils between ages eight and 14.

    According to her, YEF is an NGO that promotes literacy and education, noting that the foundation is also a franchise holder of Scripps National Spelling Bee, United States.  Ghana is the only African country to participate in Scripps National Spelling Bee in partnership with two consulting firms, PDR Media Service Nigeria and Business Interactive Consulting International.”

    She said the major objective of the competition in Nigeria is to encourage pupils to improve on their knowledge and application of the rules guiding the use of English Language.

    According to her,  YEF, last year, underwent the trial version of the contest in Osun State to understand the challenges and prepare better this year.

    “We are very pleased with the overwhelmingly successful implementation of The Spelling Bee in Osun States, where the eventual winner, Zainab Olawale of Unity School, Osogbo was rewarded with an all expense-paid trip to the 87th Scripps National Spelling Bee of the USA, as a guest.  We remain grateful to the State of Osun and the office of Sheri Care Foundation (a foundation initiated by the wife of the State of Osun, Alhaja Sherifa Aregbesola)  for welcoming this programme into Nigeria,” she said.

    Mr. Emmanuel Afful, a Linguist and Lead Trainer of the competition, said selected teachers from the 25 schools would undergo one-week training to be led by Linguistics trained officials from Ghana. After this, the teachers, she added, are expected to impart their newly acquired skills onto their pupils before presenting them for the competition.

     

  • Mushin boy wins Spelling Bee

    Adewunmi Usman, an 11-year-old pupil of St Paul African Church Primary School, Mushin has emerged winner of the 2013 Spelling Bee competition (primary category).

    He was declared winner at the competition organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Education before a packed audience at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Ikeja, on Tuesday.

    Adewunmi was followed by Solomon Udugboku, of LA Primary School, Ilogbo-Elegba, and Benjamin Onyeagbo of AUD Primary School, Imota who came second and third.

    The competition, which started with 50 participants, went through five rounds. Words that evicted participants in the third round include pugilist, vulnerable, and assault; in the fourth round, glutton, synergy, trailblazer, and dessert.

    In the last round, which had the final three participants, they were asked to spell bibble babble which they all failed. Another opportunity to spell produced the winners.

    Beaming with joy, Adewunmi thanked his parents, teachers, especially his coach, Mrs Bola Oredipe for encouraging him to read his books.

    In an interview, Mrs Oredipe said Adewunmi is a good pupil.

    “He is never tired, always want to try again and he encourages me,” she said.

    She said when he missed the word Bibble Babble she thought it was the end of the competition for him, but God intervened.