www.sdie.org On January 23, the first annual Sahasra Deepika Spelling Bee was held at Basavanagudi Girlsʼ High School Auditorium in Bangalore. After narrowing the field of nearly 1000 participants to 50 finalists, 42 students took part in the final competition.
Sahasra Deepika provided bus fare for all of the students, many of whom lived far away. Nine schools were represented on stage. The competition was very intense, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats. The students had all prepared so well, that after exhausting the 300 words from our dictionary, the remaining 5 contestants spelled words volunteered by the audience. Finally, Hemalatha, a 9th standard student from Honnaganna Hatti High School, won by spelling the word compassion.
Hemalatha is an orphan who lives with her brother and his family. Her victory was a source of great pride for her and for her school, which gets to keep the trophy this year. In 2nd and 3rd place were Deepa and Chaitra from Dodda Gollara Hatti High School;
Madhushree from Honnaganna Hatti High School came in 4th, and in 5th place was Nandini from Kamala Nehru High School. The top 5 finishers all received a certificate and watch. The top finishers from each class received books and the top 3 received a medal. All students received a t-shirt. The significance of the bee goes far beyond the prizes, however. Students in poverty rarely get this type of opportunity to participate in such an event.
The school principals all remarked on what an impact it could have on these children to be recognized in such a way for their accomplishments. We look forward to expanding the program to more schools in the coming year, with your support.
For more information please call me at +91 9886132507 or email tvmarun@gmail.com
We are happy to share our Spelling Bee words list for interested people.
Our Sincere thanks to Mr.Sanket Panchamia from SpectraLinear company (www.spectralinear.com) and Suman Alva from Target (www.target.com).
www.sdie.org
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