Word games that level schools

English vocabulary games like ‘Hangman’, ‘Anagram’, and ‘Spelling Bee’ are no longer the preserve of the Ivy League schools alone. Coached government school students are sharing the honours these days

Purnima Sriram

‘Hum kisise kum nahi’ was the attitude that government school students reflected en masse at the grand finale of ‘Learnasium’, monsoon edition of an open vocabulary contest conducted by the Atlanta Foundation in Hyderabad recently. Students of both private schools and government schools were brought together on one platform at the Tech Mahindra campus auditorium. The beaming government school kids looked priceless, after they made it to the top four.

Of course, children from private schools also showcased their talents with supreme confidence on the stage. Many parents from well-to-do families were busy clicking away the winner’s smile on the faces of their little, loved ones with their smart phones.

It was a good day for Narasimha Marjodi, a Class V student of the Government Primary School, Anjaiah Nagar, Gachibowli, who emerged as the champion for the season for scoring 60 points, while his counterparts scored 40 points. He was all smiles while receiving prize -- Rs 50,000 in cash and a trophy. The principal of his school received the rolling trophy for the second time.

The competition was held for Classes V, VI and VII, VIII individually. Kaveri Priya P of the Delhi Public School of Class VI, who didn’t lose a single point, was the winner for Class VI ; Mihir Odhrani of the Howard Public School of Class VII was the winner for VII Grade competition and Mahtab Makrani of CMR International School of Class VIII was declared the winner of the competition conducted for Class VIII. The winners in each class were given Rs 50,000/- in cash for first prize, while the second first runner-up received Rs 25,000/- and the second runner- up Rs 10,000/- along with trophies and certificates.

Deenanath Harapanahalli, founder of the Atlanta Foundation, said that almost 1,000 students participated in the preliminary tests. “The motive behind the contest is to prove that if proper resources and right training are given to the government school students, then they are no less compared to the students studying in private school. We have adopted a few under privileged students and the competition was held between them and the private school children. Our foundation funds the education program for school students in a unique way. It is training a few government school students in English Vocabulary,” he added.

English vocabulary games like ‘Hangman’, ‘Anagram’, and ‘Spelling Bee’ were conducted. The students enjoyed the competition despite the tension. Class-wise competitions were held for all four grades in the three different popular game rounds.

Students from Glendale, Howard, Meridian, Sanskriti, CMR International, Goutham, DSE, Obul Reddy, Madeena School, Anjaiah Nagar Primary School, Gachibowli Primary School, Siddiq Nagar Primary School and CNN Tanda Primary School reached the finals.

Samuel Varghese, senior Vice President for sales and marketing, Lanco Hills Technology, Srinivas Rao, General Manager for sales and Marketing, Lanco Hills, Rajendra Tunuguntla, Location Council Head, Tech Mahindra, Indira Munjuluri, Business Group Head for Retail, Travel & Logistics, Tech Mahindra, CVN Varma, Hospitality & Administration Head, Tech Mahindra gave away the prizes to the little ones. Students, whether in government or private school, get ready to test your vocabulary and start preparing for the winter edition which opens in November.