The inaugural Okahandja Circuit Secondary School Spelling Bee Competition (English) was successfully held at the Amitofo Care Centre (ACC).
The grade 8 spellers from Yuan Jue Private School won first place through Hilia Ailapa (13), second place by Ester Hamutenya (14), and third place by Kaarin Mukongon (14). The winner’s trophy was awarded automatically to Yuan Jue Private School. When a different school wins next year, the trophy will be relocated to that school, and if the same school wins for three consecutive years, the trophy will remain at that school for good (new trophy will be used in the next competition).
Ailapa, the circuit champion, broke her record of winning the competition twice in a row since 2022, and was crowned a grand circuit champion this year.
“It was a monumental moment in the town’s educational history, and I am very thrilled that the ACC is playing a central role,” said Min-Ju Chen, the director of ACC. The audience on the day witnessed 40 learners from eight secondary schools coming together for the first time to test their English vocabulary competencies, and enjoy the camaraderie among the schools.
Robert Williams, the cluster principal, stated in his welcoming remarks, “It is a very welcoming and also a much-delayed event, and we hope to see similar kinds of competitions in all other subjects.” The event was hosted by Yuan Jue Private School (under the aegis of Amitofo Care Centre) and Eden Combined School.
To make this event happen, the teachers from eight
schools held seven preparation meetings since August 2023. “Besides all the hiccups and issues we had since last year, in the end, it was all about teaching our learners new things, and getting teachers to have new abilities,” said Elke Candice Diener (Project Secondary School).
The organising committee from Yuan Jue Private School circulated 2 000 entry words in December 2023, many of which were quite challenging and tricky, and required some time for the secondary school learners to absorb. Teachers began distributing and teaching the words to their learners in December (although a few schools joined the competition late and received the words less than two months before the competition). Each school sent their best five spellers to the competition.
Yuan Jue held its internal competition in 2022 for the first time. The following year, it held an interschool competition with Five Rand Primary School. In 2024, Yuan Jue expanded its horizons once again with cooperation from the town’s secondary schools, and hosted this year’s inaugural circuit competition. “We hope to see the competition grow to become regional and national competitions, and eventually we want to see our brilliant spellers, such as Hilia, Ester, Kaarin and others representing Namibia for the African Spelling Bee Competition,” said Sakaria Johannes, the HoD at Yuan Jue Private School. He appealed to teachers and stakeholders in education to move forward on this event for the benefit of the learners. Requests for more information and invitations to participate in the regional and national competitions are more than welcome, and should be addressed to:
info.namibia@amitofocarecenter.org.