Round one success for spelling bee pair
Matamata College students Flynn Drysdale- Dunn and Awhina Pearce have spelt their way through to the Hamilton Regional Spelling Bee to be held in August.
In June, Flynn and Awhina, along with 10 other students, had to spell 100 words and gain a score over 72 correct to go through to the next round.
Some of the trickiest words in round one included antediluvian (very old or old-fashioned); syco- phant (a person who praises powerful people to get their approval); and troglodyte (a cave dweller).
The next step involves them learning 100 words ( including chamois, fusillade, pariah and ghoulish) as well as reading widely, in preparation for the semifinal in Hamilton.
There they will have a written test of 10 words from the list as well as another 10 unseen words before moving on to a knockout round where the words have to be spelt out loud.