The Spelling Bee Competition was piloted among eight Junior High Schools in the Agona Nsaba Traditional Area.

The competition was identified as one of the literacy projects that could spark higher level of inspiration for learning among the youth in the Area and its environs. It was also assessed that the competition could serve as a pathway for extensive community engagement and participation that could create an enabling environment for the youth in the community.

The organization of the project that would lead to the competition started in June 2024, when a committee was set up to help plan the various activities required for its establishment in 2024 and further years. The committee was made up of 11 volunteer teachers and other leaders. The project was envisaged to have three main phases: (1) intra-school, inter-school and the final competition.

Each phase carried a unique atmosphere and importance. The intra-school was a phase that gave all the students in each class among the eight selected schools the opportunity to participate in a class test conducted by the teachers who volunteered to support the vision under the guidance of the project committee. Before the test, the project was officially introduced to both the students and the teachers with emphasis on its objectives and long-term strategy. A movie titled “Akeelah and the spelling bee” was selected by the committee to indicate a case study for the project at hand. The purpose of the movie was to help the students to embrace the concept behind the project and to encourage them to undertake dedicated and hard work towards the enhancement and continuous improvement of their academic performance.

The organization of the project that would lead to the competition started in June 2024, when a committee was set up to help plan the various activities required for its establishment in 2024 and further years. The committee was made up of 11 volunteer teachers and other leaders. The project was envisaged to have three main phases: (1) intra-school, inter-school and the final competition.

Each phase carried a unique atmosphere and importance. The intra-school was a phase that gave all the students in each class among the eight selected schools the opportunity to participate in a class test conducted by the teachers who volunteered to support the vision under the guidance of the project committee. Before the test, the project was officially introduced to both the students and the teachers with emphasis on its objectives and long-term strategy. A movie titled “Akeelah and the spelling bee” was selected by the committee to indicate a case study for the project at hand. The purpose of the movie was to help the students to embrace the concept behind the project and to encourage them to undertake dedicated and hard work towards the enhancement and continuous improvement of their academic performance.

The intra-school phase produced 33 students for the inter-school phase of the project. The latter phase involved competition among all the eight schools with the aim of pruning out students from the final competition and choosing three best students for each JHS class (JHS1, JHS2 and JHS3). Thus, the inter-school phase produced nine best students for the final phase of the competition.  The nine finalists took part in the final phase of the competition which was held at the Agona Nsaba Durbar Ground situated at the centre of the town opposite a major road intersection.

The final competition was held on October 2024 during the first week of festivities marking the annual Akwanbo Festival of the Chiefs and People of the Agona Nsaba Traditional Area. The competition was chaired by Professor Kwabena Asomanin Anaman, a native of Agona Nsaba and Professor of Resource and Environmental Economics & Political Economy at the University of Ghana, Legon, Accra. It was graced by a five-member team from the Agona Nsaba Traditional Council headed by the Paramount Chief, Nana Okeseku Afari Mintah III. It was attended by over 500 students and parents and produced a joyous atmosphere of intense involvement of the nine competitors occasionally interrupted by music and dancing among the many students who attended the event.

At the end of a gruelling two-hour contest, a winner emerged from each of the three JHS classes. All nine participants were given awards in the form of books, pens, pencils, and mathematical sets. Further, the class winner and the other two competitors in the final competition were all given additional cash prizes. Various cash prizes and other items were also given to the volunteer teachers who assisted with the entire competition.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Agona Nsaba Traditional Council, the Paramount Chief, Nana Okeseku Afari Mintah 111, Professor Anaman, Dr. Richard Kyereboah, Headmasters and Headmistresses of the eight schools, parents and ordinary citizens of Agona Nsaba and a big one to Nabs Groups one of the sponsors for the enormous assistance and support which made the Competition a big success.

The next competition planned to be undertaken in 2025 will be a much bigger event given the numerous requests from schools in the Traditional Area to be included in the event