Annie wins Eason’s Spelling Bee for second year in a row

ANNIE John, a sixth class pupil from Scoil Mhuire, Coolcotts, has won Wexford’s Eason’s Spelling Bee competition for the second year in a row. Travelling to Gorey’s Educate Together NS to defend her title, Annie faced some stiff competition from 23 other pupils but once more emerged victorious, her winning word being ‘ brasserie’.

She will now go on to represent Wexford in the Leinster finals later this school year.

“Annie’s classmates and I are extremely proud of her amazing achievement,” said her teacher, Ms. Marina Kehoe, who described the star speller as a “motivated and diligent pupil”.

Dr. Mags Jordan, Principal of Scoil Mhuire, said she is incredibly proud of Annie. “Eason’s have given children a very enjoyable educational experience, one that is also a marvellous confidence builder for the participants,” she continued. “They get to have fun, all while expanding their vocabulary and refining their spelling skills.”

Annie’s parents have been helping her train for the spelling bees and were in attendance at the county final in Gorey. Her dad, John Bakthan, said the sixth class pupil has had a love of the written word since she was a toddler. “She was always into reading, was reading small story books even before she went into playschool. Since then she has got into the Harry Potter books, Roald Dahl, and received great encouragement from her teachers at Scoil Mhuire.”

Revealing that his daughter also enjoys writing stories of her own, John said much of Annie’s success is down to an innate curiosity to know everything about words, to learn about their definition and meaning, not just their spelling. Hopeful that she will go one step further this year and win the Leinster title, John said Annie’s ambition when she finishes school is no longer to become a teacher, and said she has since decided she would prefer to be a doctor.

Celebrating its 11th year, the Eason Spelling Bee is part of an overall literacy and reading drive to encourage and inspire children to develop their spelling and pronunciation skills. Over the years the competition has helped school children gain a greater appreciation of words and fosters vocabulary growth and self-confidence for children.

Group Head of Marketing at Eason, Brendan Corbett, said, “We are thrilled to be kicking off the 2024 Eason Spelling Bee with such accomplished children taking part in Wexford – they are a great testament to the talent of the children of Ireland. I am certain that this year we will be successful in building on 2023’s triumph and inspire everyone to support their local schools, and especially, their bees.”

The All-Ireland winning bee will get a selection of books for their school library valued at €7,500, in addition to the coveted title of Eason Spelling Bee 2024 Champion. The winner themselves will also receive a goodie bag packed of books worth €500.

This year, over 525 schools nationwide will compete against each other in a bid to win the prestigious prize. The Eason Spelling Bee team will be travelling around the country to host County Final Bees, and then progressing to a Provincial Bee contest. The champions from these will then go headto-head in the All-Ireland Final Bee, taking place in June 2024, with the lucky winner being crowned King or Queen Bee.

Keep up to date with all the 2024 Spelling Bee buzz on www.easons.com/spellingbee and @ easons #EasonSpellingBee.