Spelling bee fever at Mulund

The words “spelling bee” bring to mind images of children spewing alphabets, perhaps with little to no understanding of the meaning of the words.

On Sunday, 2,500-plus students from around 40 schools across Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane participating in the SpellBee International's district-level competition at Mulund Vidyamandir School from 8am to 2pm, have something else in store for them.
“The aim of SpellBee, which is supported by national NGO I.N.D.I.A. TRUST, is to improve a student’s spoken English," said Sachin Utchil, regional associate partner of SpellBee International in Mumbai. The trust is conducting the second of five levels — school, district, state, national and international.

It will involve activities testing general knowledge, along with four other rounds (at the school level) such as dictation, match the word with its meaning, unscramble the word, and putting the appropriate word in the blank.

In a first, a visually challenged girl with only 10% sight from DAV International School will participate in the spelling bee competition.

The results will be announced on SpellBee's website and across schools. Each student will receive either the winner certificate, commendation or participation certificate. Students also stand to win prizes at each level with goodies ranging from LCDs and PlayStation 2 to an international tour package.