By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: It was the test of mental ability to correctly spell some of the toughest spellings in the world and students from Shillong were largely successful in bringing the best out of them during the first-ever Spelling Bee contest here at the Don Bosco Youth Centre on Friday.
Organised by the US Consulate General, the contest saw participation from over 200 students from different schools of the city.
The Spelling Bee is a competition where contestants are asked to spell words. The concept originated in the United States and Spelling Bee events are now held in many countries around the world.
Ribhalina Lyngdoh Pale, Marina Laskor and Aditi Mozika (all from Pine Mount School) bagged the top three prizes respectively. Ribhalina will now compete in the grand finale to be held in Kolkata where she would compete with winners from different states of the country.
In course of the event, the students also got the opportunity to interact with the Director of the American Center, Jeffrey K Reneau.
The contest is one of the many opportunities to highlight people-to-people ties and the shared commitment towards education that distinguishes the US-India relationship.
The first All India American Center Spelling Bee started in 2007 in Kolkata. Stating that he was overwhelmed with the response and performance of the students from the city, Reneau said that the idea behind the competition is to improve the spelling ability of students which is a must for securing good marks in any examinations.
During the day, Reneau also visited Impulse NGO and gave a special presentation on trafficking which was followed by other musical programmes.
Meanwhile, it was informed that the American Center, Kolkata will organise the Autumn Music Festival (AMF) for the third year in a row. The festival, to be held in collaboration with Cloud 9 and Red FM, aims at hunting for Shillong’s best musical band.
After similar rounds in Kolkata and Siliguri, selected bands will perform in the grand finale at Kolkata on October 5-6.