Nine-year-old Osariemen Omosigho has emerged winner in the Junior category of Aimee’s Library Recreational Centre 2019 Spelling Bee competition, while 10-year-old Olumide Daniel Ojo emerged winner over 79 others to win the Senior category.
The competition, in its second season, had over 100 pupils in the junior category compete for the star prize, while the senior category had 80 persons.
The convener, Spelling Bee & Games Board Games Competition, Amy Afebuame, said the programme was borne out of passion to create healthy competition among children between the ages of seven and 13.
At the end of the day, eight-year-old Dukiaoluwa Olohunkoya emerged the first runner-up in the Junior Category, while Madu Kosisochukwu, also eight-years-old was the second runner-up in the Spelling Bee.
Ten-year-old Gabrielle Abidakun, was the first runner-up in the Senior Category, while 13-year-old Odofin Moyinoluwa got the second runner-up position.
Ten-year-old Gbadebo Valentine was the Master of the Board in Chess while Eight-year-old Oladunjoye Seyifunmi, outsmarted other contestants to win the Master of the Board in Scrabble and Richard David was declared winner of the Master of the Board in SmartKids Board.
On how she started, Amy Afebuame said:
“Usually, we run kids book club, but we started the Spelling Bee in 2018. This competition is mostly for individual participants, and we are hoping that more schools will be able to latch into it.
I have a soft spot for children. So, I run a book club for them to improve their vocabulary. Spelling Bee came up because I wanted to help children to be able to spell and read better. This is because we don’t just read books, but also bring out new word from books. We create a world from the words we find. And I added board game to improve their skill.
Sometimes, we have six-year-olds. But for this season, they must not be older than 13. Today, we have 100 participants in the junior category and 80 in the senior category. So, there is first, second and third positions for both category and then for master of the board in scrabble, chess and smart kids board.
The winners go home with trophies and medals, cash prize of ₦100,000 for the first place, ₦50,000 for the first runner-up and the second runner-up goes home with ₦30,000, and up to ₦50,000 voucher to shop for books.
The competition helps children to improve their creative and cognitive skills. It also brings about healthy competition, as well as helps them network among their age groups.
On challenges, it’s mostly logistics and getting sponsors for the programme. It was all on me last year, but we have few sponsors this year, and we are hoping that more sponsors will come on board. I love children and I hope I would be able to do more for them. We are coming bigger and better next year.”
