Achi news desk-
Young spellers had the chance to flaunt their vast vocabularies at a spelling bee competition in Winnipeg on Saturday.
The competition, presented by the Spelling Bee of Canada alongside the non-profit Healthy Muslim Families, debuted in Winnipeg last year.
More than a hundred youth participated this year in the primary, junior and intermediate categories of this year’s event, which was held at the University of Manitoba’s Engineering building.
“When we look at Winnipeg, yes, there are great opportunities in terms of sports and physical activities. But looking at the educational side, we feel there is still a gap,” said Asra Waleed, the event’s marketing manager.
“Yes, it seems [like just] vocabulary or spelling, but if you look at it in the bigger picture, it overcomes stage fright, public speaking, [and having] the confidence to be there to participate.”
Hafsa Khan said she only started practicing last week, so she was tempering her expectations going into the spelling bee.
“I thought the words would be easier because I did one last year,” he said. “When I got the words – it’s like, 400 words – I was like, oh my God.”
Tamiyah Mubeen, 13, on the other hand, said she had been training for over a month.
“I’m not that scared,” he said before the fight. “I’m going to try not to look at people’s heads or like eyes.”
Ahnaf Abudallah Sabeer, 13, was a little more nervous.
“I am [felt] like, ‘What if I’m the only one who gets one wrong?’” he said, bending down towards the mic as if he were still on stage.
“In the end, I rushed quite a bit,” he said, eventually admitting that he liked maths more than English.
In the end, Favor Folorunso, 8, from South Pointe School, got the first prize in her category. One of the last words of her championship – which happens to be synonymous with “spell” – sums up exactly how she felt afterwards.
“Enchantment.”
“I was nervous, I was embarrassed for some reason, and I was excited – all three at the same time,” she said, adding that she felt quite happy about the a win because her mother promised to get her an Xbox.
Olayinka Folorunso, Favour’s mother, looked on from the crowd along with other family members. Folorunso said Favor had been considering going “all out” in this year’s competition after being eliminated last year.
“We exhausted all the words in the handbook, then of course she went to the library from school, got a dictionary and went through the dictionary as well,” he said.
“It feels so good that she’s getting some compensation for the work she does [in].”
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