Read lots. That was the simple advice from the top team in the Otago Daily Times Extra! Spelling Quiz years 9 and 10 section last night to other aspiring champion spellers wanting to follow in their footsteps.
Dunstan High School year 10 pupils James Sawers, Kia Wales and Sunaina Born scored a record 97 out of 100 in the Central Otago final of the event, held in Cromwell. Quiz co-ordinator and Extra! editor Ivan Behrnes said the score was the highest he could recall in the Central Otago round of the spelling quiz.
The trio, who are in the same class at Dunstan, had never won the spelling event before but all had some success in the Extra! current events quizzes in other years. They were quick to suggest ''read lots'' as their words of wisdom to other entrants. All were keen readers and that was the best preparation for the event, they agreed.
They guessed the two mystery words on the first clue, getting maximum points in that round, and were unsure where they dropped marks. The scoresheet revealed the proof-reading section and root words and endings were their only weaknesses.
Wakatipu High School 1 team, made up of Jessica Dicker, Daniel Lewis and Amelia Cross, was second on 94 points and two teams tied for third on 91 points - Maddie McLean, Angela Santos and Tom Happs, of Wakatipu 4, and James Sawers' younger sister Ruby, Matt Bonsor and Imi Blance, of Dunstan 4. The winning teams received a plaque to display at their school, medals, book vouchers, and pens, while placegetters received book vouchers and pens.
More than 20 teams competed in 10 rounds of spelling, dictionary skills and understanding of abbreviations and word origins yesterday.
On Wednesday, about 250 Central Otago pupils gathered in Cromwell to compete in the years 5 and 6 and years 7 and 8 sections of the quiz. Next week, it will be the turn of schools in the Central South Island, when the spelling quiz is staged in Timaru on July 2 and 3.
The Otago Daily Times Extra! spelling quizzes are a part of the newspaper's Class Act programme, which celebrates the excellence of young people.
Extra! is a monthly educational publication produced by the newspaper for senior primary, intermediate and junior secondary school pupils.
