Naa Korshie, Ghana's new Spelling Bee Champion
The Spelling Bee 2021 National Finals aired live on Citi TV,
ended Saturday night after 15 rounds of spelling. This year's National Finals showcased hours of unprecedented academic prowess between 60 Spellers from 23 schools.
For the first time, the closed-door event had Spellers separated from their parents; a necessary precaution against Covid-19.
This year's National Finals was highly competitive, but, in the end, 11-year-old Naa Koshie Manyo-Plange of The Roman Ridge School in Accra was crowned National Champion. From Round 9 to 15, Naa Koshie faced stiff competition from Susan Grace of Annchelle International School, Takoradi, but Naa Koshie emerged victorious in Round 15 after spelling this year's Championship word; A-M-A-X-O-P-H-O-B-I-A.
After an unprecedented spelling effort, 11-year-old Susan Grace Azu of Annchelle International School, Takoradi won second place, with 13-year-old Gavriel Asamoah from Springforth Community School, in third place.
Due to our spellers' resilience and commitment in the 14th edition of The Spelling Bee, the prizes were beef up with our sponsors' support.
The prizes for the champions include:
1st Prize:
• GH?10,000 cash prize
• An engraved trophy
• A fully installed Explora decoder with a 6-month subscription from DSTV
• A year's supply of Indomie
• Gold medal
• GH? 500 fuel vouchers sponsored by GOIL
• Frankie's Restaurant meals for a year
2nd Prize
• A trip sponsored by Kenya Airways
• GH?3,000 cash prize
• A fully installed HD Zapper decoder with three months compact viewing from DSTV
• Silver medal
• GH? 300 fuel vouchers sponsored by GOIL
3rd Prize
• A trip sponsored by Kenya Airways
• GH? 2,000 cash prize
• A fully installed HD Zapper decoder with three months compact viewing from DSTV
• A Bronze medal
• GH? 200 fuel vouchers sponsored by GOIL
Our top 3 winners' schools; The Roman Ridge School, Accra, Annchelle International School, Takoradi and Springforth Community Schools, Accra also received Certificates of Recognition and GH? 1000 fuel vouchers sponsored by GOIL. At the end of the National Competition, all Spellers went home with a Certificate of Recognition, Indomie products, and a customized T-shirt.
Six deserving Spellers were also awarded a Garden barbecue sponsored by Rufus Green Parks. 3 Most Improved Spellers at this year's National Championship also won a 2-week camp at Ashesi Innovation Experience (AIX) sponsored by Ashesi University. A selected number of spellers won a Vocabulary Award for their performance in a computerized vocabulary assessment that tested their comprehension and mastery of spelling techniques. 5 Best performing Spellers also won a trip sponsored by DSTV.
In 2019, we had over 7,000 Spellers participating in the competition. Due to covid-19, out of 586 who showed interest in the 14th edition of The Spelling Bee, 370 spellers actively participated in the contest, and 60 Spellers made it to the National Finals, representing 23 schools from 6 cities.
This year's National Finals was a celebration of our Spellers, parents, and Sponsors who reinforced their faith in us despite the challenges in the previous year. We couldn't have made it this far without their support and confidence in us.
Spelling Bee is more than just spelling, as this year's Spellers have continuously proven during
the Quarter-Finals, Semifinals, and National Finals. It extends beyond language; our Spellers, throughout the year-long journey to the National Finals, develop essential skills like self-confidence, public speaking, and the ability to thrive under pressure.
Enrollment for the 15th edition is now open for students in Ghana, and we want to assure all that Spellers' safety is our priority. The pandemic pushed us to think outside the box to introduce creative and safe ways of engaging our Spellers. Our experience in 2020 and 2021 has better prepared us for the next edition, thus introducing our virtual platform and training
videos with which we hope to reach more Spellers, especially the marginalized.
Ready for the next adventure? A new edition bee-gins today! Follow this link to register http://bit.ly/EnrollSpellingBeeGH
Thank you for your continuous support!
About Young Educators Foundation (YEF):
Young Educators Foundation (YEF), the organizers of The Spelling Bee Ghana, is a local
NGO whose vision is to improve our youth's lives through literacy and champion the cause of education. We strongly believe education cannot be limited to only what is taught in the classroom and that co-curricular activities have an essential role in the total education of our children.
About the Spelling Bee-Ghana:
The Spelling Bee Ghana (TSBGH) is a literacy programme that teaches primary children between ages 8 and 13 how to improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn and understand word concepts, and develop English usage. TSBGH is a local version of the internationally acclaimed Scripps Spelling Bee, USA.
The first edition of TSB was in 2007 with only six schools, where Maria Isabel Kubabom of SOS Hermann Gmeiner School, Tema won and went on to represent Ghana in the USA.
Maria's appearance at the 80th Scripps Spelling Bee made history, the first representation of an African at the internationally renowned contest. Ghana has since then been the only African country to participate at the international level. The Spelling Bee is a Ghana Education Service (GES) endorsed programme.
