The national finals of the 2021 edition of Spelling Bee competition, was held over the weekend at Alisa Hotel, and 11-year-old Naa Koshie Manyo-Plange of the Roman Ridge School in Accra emerged winner.
After an intense 15 rounds of keenly contested spelling competition by 60 participants from across the sixteen regions of Ghana, she stood tall among her peers to be the only one to represent Ghana at the international level come May 2021.
This year’s spelling bee turn out to be one of the most competitive in recent times as it stretched longer than expected with contestants putting in their best to grab the trophy and represent the nation at the international level.
The 60 contestants dropped to 16 by the end of round four and further dropped to only four by the start of round seven. All four contestant misspelled their words in round seven and so round eight was basically a repeat of round seven but with different words to spell.
Naa Koshie and Susan Grace Azu, were the only two standing at end of round eight. The two determined ladies took the competition to another level as they faced it head-on from round nine to 15, where Susan got her word wrong and Naa Koshie got it right before proceeding to spell correctly as well the championship word of the day to emerge the champion 2021.
Susan Grace Azu of Anchelle International School, Takoradi in the Western Region walked away with the second-place prize while Gavriel Asamoah of Springforth Community School, Accra placed third
Aside the privilege to represent Ghana at the international level, a gold medal, trophy and the bragging right as the 2021 winner of spelling bee, Naa Koshie, also walked away with GH¢10,000 cash prize, six months fully subscribed DSTV installation, a whole year free supply of Indomie noodles, a year Frankie’s restaurant lunch coupon and GH¢500 worth of fuel voucher from Goil.
Second placed, Susan Grace Azu, made her way back to Takoradi with a silver medal, GH¢3,000 cash prize, GH¢300 worth of fuel voucher form Goil, three months fully subscribed DSTV Zapper decoder, boxes of Indomie-noodles and a trip sponsored by Kenya Airways.
Likewise, third placed Gavriel Asamoah, received bronze medal, GH¢2,000 cash prize, three months fully subscribed DSTV Zapper decoder, GH¢200 worth of fuel voucher form Goil and boxes of Indomie-noodles and a trip sponsored by Kenya Airways.
In appreciation of the support provided by schools and staff in preparing the pupils for the contest, schools of the three winners were also given a certificate of recognition GH¢1,000 fuel voucher.
Commenting on her victory, Naa Koshie expressed her heartfelt gratitude to her parents and teachers who helped in preparing her for such a competition. She was overwhelmed with the victory and indicated that she did not see it coming though she was adequately prepared and hoping to go far in the competition.
The National Coach for the Spelling Bee competition, Emmanuel Afful, expressed satisfactory with the performance of the participants in this year’s finals especially the champion. He however added that the journey has just begun for the champion as she need to sharpen up for the international competition come May 2021, in USA.
