14 August 2014
Upper North Island Regional Spelling Bee Champions declared first equal
Manvinder Kaur and Clarissa Wiratmadja, both in Year 10 from Macleans College, are heading to the 2014 New Zealand Spelling Bee Final after being declared first equal at the Upper North Island
Spelling Bee Semi Final today.
Manvinder and Clarissa will now be burning the midnight oil, studying for the Final on Saturday 18 October, the tenth
final for the New Zealand Spelling Bee. The talented spellers will compete against 14 other finalists from around the
country vying for the title of 2014 New Zealand Spelling Bee Champion.
Manvinder correctly spelt the word ‘monotheistic’ whilst Clarissa spelt ‘megalomania’ to share the first equal placing.
Russell Eskildsen, Year Nine from Massey High School and Luca Basso, Year 10 from Rangitoto College, were left to battle
it out for the title of runner up. Both shared the title when Russell correctly spelt ‘idiosyncratic’ and Luca spelt
‘philistine’.
For event manager Janet Lucas, it is hugely rewarding to see the enthusiasm and skill is still there after 10 years of
running the competition.
“It is a huge accomplishment to get this far in the competition,” says Janet.
“A total of 200 spellers from around the country advance to the semi finals after classroom spelling bees. The top
spellers then compete in one of the regional spelling bees. From those competitions, 16 finalists are chosen and will be
studying hard to become the national spelling bee champion in a couple of months time.”
All four have won places at the Wellington-based New Zealand Spelling Bee along with travel and accommodation to attend
the event.
Whoever wins the 2014 final will be crowned New Zealand’s Spelling Bee Champion, winning $5000 in cash along with the
National Spelling Bee trophy.
Wayne Wright, director of new sponsor School’s Out, nationwide before and after school care and holiday programmes, says
student participation in the Spelling Bee is greater than ever.
“It’s fantastic to see the Spelling Bee growing in popularity year after year.
“It shows that students are still keen to develop their orthography skills and challenge themselves. Spelling Bees can
be as much fun and as mentally demanding as physical sports.”
Wright also leads the Wright Family Trust, established in part to support and promote childhood literacy. It has
supported the introduction of nationwide classroom spelling resources and teacher’s awards. The 2014 Teacher Awards,
each worth $5,000, are for teachers whose innovative and effective programme or initiative instills a love of language
in their students.
The nation’s best spellers are taken from a pool of Year 9 and 10 students from across the country.
The New Zealand Spelling Bee, sponsored by School’s Out, Before and After School Care and Holiday Programmes, and is
administered by a charitable trust. Its purpose is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies,
learn concepts and develop correct English usage.
INTRODUCING THE NEW SPONSOR (‘School’s Out’ Before and After School Care and Holiday Programmes)
It’s very expensive to run a spelling bee, and that’s why Janet and her team are thrilled that ‘Schools Out’ Before and
After School Care and Holiday Programmes is the new Spelling Bee sponsor.
‘School’s Out’ sponsorship not only ensures the continued running of the Bee, it has helped build the programme by
introducing a new classroom spelling resource and the Teacher’s Awards.
Without its support we could not run the bee. ‘School’s Out’ is committed to New Zealand children’s literacy. Wayne
Wright leads the Wright Family Trust, and is the director of School’s Out. Wayne Wright is also leads Kidicorp Education
and Care Centres.
For more information visit www.spellingbee.co.nz.
ENDS