Spelling Bee Changes Lives of Needy Children in Bangalore One Word at a Time

Jan. 28, 2011 - PRLog -- On January 29, 2011, excitement will fill the air as 120 spelling bee contestants take the stage at Hombegowda High School Auditorium in Wilson Garden, Bangalore. What makes this program unique is that all of the contestants are from under-served, Kannada medium government schools. The spelling bee is the brainchild of Dr. T.V. Ramakrishna, founder and president of Sahasra Deepika International for Education. This ngo supports the education and care of needy and orphaned students at Sahasra Deepika Institute in Bangalore. Dr. Ramakrishna felt it was important to reach out to the community and encourage as many children as possible to succeed. English skills are an important component of their preparation to enter the global economy. The 9th standard students are given a dictionary which includes 500 English words from their textbooks; phonetic spellings in Kannada, definitions, and examples of use in a sentence. Volunteers and teachers work with the students for several months to prepare. Children learn English, but also gain confidence and the opportunity to shine. Last year, nearly 1000 students participated. The winner, Hemalatha, hailed from Honnaganna Hatti High School and bested the field by spelling "compassion." This year, thirteen schools, or about 1500 students, have joined the program. At the final competition, students will take the stage and compete for prizes and the chance to take the coveted trophy back to their school. Mr. K. Shamanna, B.Sc., B.Ed., the nationally recognized educator and Headmaster of Sarrakki High School will be the chief guest. Please join us and show your support for these truly amazing kids! The Spelling Bee Contest is from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 29. For further information, please contact us at info@sdie.org or visit our website, http://sdie.org.

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Sahasra Deepika International for Education is a nonprofit, charitable organization dedicated to providing needy children the opportunity to succeed through education. Our primary focus is in Bangalore, India. We work with our sister organization in the U.S., Sahasra Deepika Foundation for Education, to provide residential education at care to 56 students at Sahasra Deepika Institute in Bangalore. Through our Outreach Program, over 2500 students in the community have received encouragement and tutoring.