One could hear a pin drop and the tension was palpable within the Old School Hall of Kirkcudbright Academy on the evening of Thursday, 14th June, this being the occasion of the school’s annual Spelling Bee competition.
Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Kirkcudbright, eleven pupils drawn from S1 to S4 faced the challenge of spelling increasingly difficult words during the course of five rounds. Rounds 1 and 2 were written rounds and thereafter, in Round 3, the most successful spellers were required to stand, to repeat the word to be spelled, and then to spell that word.
By Round 3 five pupils remained in contention their number being reduced to two during Round 4, Emma Carstairs and Scarlett Carter. These two pupils fought a very exciting and closely contested Round 5 with Emma being the eventual winner.
The Rotary Club’s prize winner’s shield and a book token were presented to Emma by Club President Paul Tebay, with all of the contestants receiving participation certificates. In his closing remarks, M.C. for the evening, Gavin Scott, praised the participants for taking part and thanked all involved, including, in particular, Mrs Amy MacDougall of the Academy’s English Department, for their contribution to what had proved to be a most successful competition.
