Lumby Grade 5 student Hannah May Ramis won the 2018 Spelling Bee of Canada B.C. Junior Division title in Surrey. She now advances to the National Spelling Bee in Toronto. (Photo submitted-Summerland Review)
OkANAGAN, British Columbia
‘Deplorable’ did not stump student
By Ted Alcuitas
Hannah Ramis correctly spelled ‘deplorable’ to win the 2018 Spelling Bee of Canada provincial championship in the Junior division. She competed against 38 other students from across the province at the Khalsa School in Surrey. Ramis now advances to the National Spelling Bee of Canada in Toronto on May 6.
After four rounds and about 140 words, seven students were left standing and headed into the tie-breaker round.
It was an intense several rounds as Menke and Ramis vied for the championship title, unable to correctly spell words such as “famulus,” “bipartite” and “baobab.”
Finally, after Menke misspelled “scullion,” Ramis had to spell the same word and then another word to be declared champion. She successfully spelled “scullion” and also spelled “deplorable” to cap the competition.
Not only does she get to go to the national finals, Ramis also collected $500 and a big trophy for the provincial title.
The 11-year old is the daughter of Maylene an Bernie Ramis of the Okanagan, B.C.
The Okanagan Filipino Canadians association posted their congratulations to Hannah in the Facebook page.
According to The Daily Courier, Spelling Bee itself isn’t as easy to define. The term has been around since kids have been gathering for spelling contests since at least 1875.
“You might think it has something to do with the events being buzzy and named after precise and industrious bees. However, bee in this case is more likely a from the Middle English word bean, meaning to come together to help a neighbour with a task.
As such, there are also quilting bees, corn-husking bees and barn-raising bees.”
With the provincial title under her belt, Ramis is now practising like crazy for the 2018 Spelling Bee of Canada national championships being held in Toronto May 6, reports T
“Besides practising by spelling lots of words, I also read a lot. That helps with your spelling too,” she said.
As well as being a crack speller, Ramis also loves to draw, is a whiz at computer coding and can play a mean violin.
Ramis does her Grade 5 work through the Ascend Online Catholic School.
Spelling Bee of Canada is run by a Toronto-based charitable organization that encourages youth, parents, teachers and the community to participate in the education process and celebrate academic achievement.