From over 1600 students who had represented 244 of the most competitive schools from Punjab, the regional finalists were winnowed to 114 who won the right to compete at the Lahore Regional Championship Round on the morning of November 5.

The contest kicked off with the two-day Multan Pool Rounds on October 18 and 19, moving to Faisalabad on October 25 and finally the four-day Lahore run from November 1 to 4. The competition was dotted with mixed emotions of heartbreak and joy, where tears and cheers happened simultaneously.

Organised by the Dawn Media Group, the Spelling Bee aims to not only improve spelling, grammar and enhance vocabulary, but also infuse poise and grace under pressure. It was indeed heartening to see students travelling hundreds of miles to show their spelling prowess and battle it out for the Regional title, despite the smog that engulfed Lahore.

The enthusiastic yet nervous 15-17 age group participants were the first to face the panel of jury on stage, followed by the 12-14 and 9-11 age group contestants. The air seemed to be filled with random letters. Whenever a word was pronounced, tension slowly mounted as not only the speller, but the students, teachers and parents sitting in the audience, tried to spell out the word quietly among themselves. And then whatever the result, they supported the participants for their efforts with great enthusiasm.

Of tears and cheers

As with all competitions, there were some students who strode forward and spelled out difficult words confidently and correctly; at the same time, there were others who struggled with spellings or made unfortunate errors, losing by a letter or two.

The tie breaker rounds called the “To Bee or Not to Bee Round” were especially enthralling which kept everyone on the edge of their seats. The judges also jokingly remarked if the participants were conspiring to make it a never ending round with either all giving the correct spellings or all spelling the words incorrectly. Eventually the tie breakers did conclude with the girls standing out in the top three positions of all three age groups.

Age group: 9-11

Regional champion: Rameen Sajjad, Beaconhouse School System, Walton Campus, Lahore; First Runner-up: Fatima Eshaal Bashir, Learning Alliance, IB DHA, Lahore; Second runner-up: M. Hassaan Ahmed, LACAS Gulberg Senior, Lahore

Age group: 12-14

Regional Champion: Aqsa Hasan, Lahore Grammar School, 55-Main Gulberg, Lahore; First Runner-up: Kashif Fareed from Springtide English Immersion School Bahawalnagar; Second Runner-up: Shahmeer Mohammad Nawaz, Aitchison College, Lahore.

Age group: 15-17

Regional Champion: Munema Zahid, Lahore Grammar School, Model Town, Lahore; First Runner-up: Emaan Ali, First Steps School of Arts and Sciences, Faisalabad; and Second Runner-up: Muhammad Shaheer, Beaconhouse School System, JT Boys Campus, Lahore Munema Zahid the 15-17 age group Lahore Regional Champion was excited to have won this title second time in a row. Shahmeer Mohammad Nawaz and Kashif Fareed were both not new to this competition as they have also been winners in the past DAWN Spelling Bees.

All the participants had worked hard to prepare for the competition. Their keenness to excel and outshine others was evident throughout. Despite the fierce competition, it was inspiring to see the comradeship and sportsman spirit among the participants who were determined to learn from their mistakes and do even better in the future.

The judges, courtesy Oxford University Press, were Ms Sara Salman and Ms Mehrunnisa Arif Kitchlew, while the pronouncer’s role was proficiently carried out by Mr Tanwir Shah.

Lahore Regional Champions:

Age group: 9-11

Regional champion: Rameen Sajjad, Beaconhouse School System, Walton Campus, Lahore; First Runner-up: Fatima Eshaal Bashir, Learning Alliance, IB DHA, Lahore; Second runner-up: M. Hassaan Ahmed, LACAS Gulberg Senior, Lahore

Age group: 12-14

Regional Champion: Aqsa Hasan, Lahore Grammar School, 55-Main Gulberg, Lahore; First Runner-up: Kashif Fareed from Springtide English Immersion School Bahawalnagar; Second Runner-up: Shahmeer Mohammad Nawaz, Aitchison College, Lahore.

Age group: 15-17

Regional Champion: Munema Zahid, Lahore Grammar School, Model Town, Lahore; First Runner-up: Emaan Ali, First Steps School of Arts and Sciences, Faisalabad; and Second Runner-up: Muhammad Shaheer, Beaconhouse School System, JT Boys Campus, Lahore.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 10th, 2016