Lulama Gcuku was one of the finalists who made it through to the Johannesburg South District competition in which 80 schools participated. She then went on to the next round which was held on the 6 August 2015. CityKidz was one of 14 schools from Gauteng who participated in the District 11 Spelling Bee. The spelling bee was hosted at Mid-Ennerdale Primary where a spectacular audience showed up to cheer for their respective schools. Amongst the audience were Kaya FM, LoveLife and iCamp (who also sponsored the prizes).
Lulama was calm, confident and displayed a flawless performance throughout. She made it through four rounds before going through to sudden death, where she finally took first place. Her words were: village; acquittal; luminous; binoculars; chauffeur; mischievous; chirrup and finally incoherent.
'It was an exciting, nail-biting experience. I found myself closing my eyes and ears every time she spelled a word. Her hard work and perseverance has paid off.' -Mrs Lorgat
This is a great achievement for CityKidz and we congratulate Lulama for her outstanding win. She will now be competing provincially at Bedford Primary School on the 26th August 2015. Not only will she be representing our school but she will be representing Gauteng. We would like to wish her well.
Watch this space for feedback from the next round of the competition.
On the 6 August 2015, there was a Spelling Bee in Mid Ennerdale. I went there at first break with my mom and Mrs Lorgat. It was very far. I was so excited and I was shaking. When we got there, I got very nervous and I told my mom I was nervous. When we went in the school hall, I got a tag number 1, I signed a document next to my name, and wrote a few sentences about how I felt, what I learnt, and how I got ready for the competition.
When the competition started I was given the word ‘village’. I was thinking of the word and I spelled it right. At the elimination round I was given the word xenophobia, I spelled the word and got it correct. At the end of the competition I was chosen among the top three to go to the provincial competition. I got a box of chocolates, scrabble and R100 tin to save money. I felt very relieved and happy. At school on Friday in assembly the Principal gave me a CityKidz school blazer ,which I wore for the competition, as a gift for my achievement in the competition. It made me feel happy and I am very proud of my school.
Lulama Gcuku
