PANAJI
Leon Fernandes, a class IV student from Goa, studying at Bloomz International School in Nuvem, stole the credit to be the only entrant from Goa to participate and win India’s first online Spell Bee Competition “ SPALLENTHON2020 - organised by Allen Career Institute, a pioneer coaching institute for the preparation of engineering and medical entrance examinations in India.
The competition was for students from class III to class X and students across the country showed enthusiasm to participate in this online spell bee contest with a total of 3,100 students from India as well as 12 other countries including Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Oman, USA, UAE, UK, Canada, Kenya, Nepal, Kuwait and Qatar, informed ALLEN’s vice-president and PNCF head Amit Gupta.
The competition conducted with qualifying rounds on August 12 had its final round on September 3 and the results were out on the same day. Leon came third overall for class IV and was the only student from Goa who participated and competed with students from across India and abroad.
Conducted online over two sessions, the first round had 50 semi-finalists. The 20 top spellers from that round then competed over two further rounds. Following a nail-biting tie-breaker, Leon achieved third place. “I found the whole experience very exciting and challenging,” exclaimed the Goan boy after emerging as a winner.
The organiser of the event, Nilesh Gupta shared that it was great to connect with so many students from different states and countries through an educational quiz. The winners were given vouchers as a token of victory. The parents appreciated this activity of learning something new during the Covid pandemic as it increased the confidence in children and provided a platform to enrich their vocabulary. “The competition made our children familiar with new words and new ways of pronunciation,” expressed a parent.
