The winners of this year’s Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee have been announced.
The three young Australians tackling some of the toughest words in the dictionary to top the country.
The national winners are: Arielle Wong from Donvale Christian College, VIC (Year 3/4 category), Theekshitha Karthik from Haileybury College, VIC (Years 5/6 category) and Evan Luc-Tran from The McDonald College, NSW (Year 7/8 category),
Almost 21,000 students from 490 schools around Australia took part in this year’s competition.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison congratulated the winners and all those who took part in this year’s competition.
The Prime Minister said:
“Well done to all the students across the country who took up the challenge, and congratulations to all the winners. Whether you’re a Prime Minister or a plumber, a teacher or a doctor, a fighter pilot or a scientist, spelling and reading are foundation skills you’re always going to need.”
Minister for Education and Youth Alan Tudge said it was great to see a mix of students from a range of schools right around the country represented in the finals.
Minister Tudge said:
“Improving school standards, particularly in literacy and numeracy are top priorities for me and the Government and events like the spelling bee are a great way for students to improve their skills.”
Theekshitha, who is in Year 6 at Haileybury College’s Berwick campus, told the Herald Sun that she was so thrilled with her win.
“If I had a rocket I would definitely have blasted over the moon”.
Theekshitha scored a quickfire 29/30 in 1 minute 12.7 second, only tripping up on the word “pariah.”
She further adds:
“I was thinking it was a really good achievement to have come so far but I was thinking ‘what do I have to do to win?’ So I was trying my best and practising … because spelling is my passion.”
The three national champs spellers are off to Canberra to meet Prime Minister Scott Morrison as part of their prize.
The prize also includes iPads, books and $1000 vouchers for their schools.