By Tatiana Mhararira
Church of Christ run Living Proof Academy from Gutu won the Zimbabwe Spelling Bee Masvingo Zone 1 competitions held at the school on March 18, 2025.
The school Vice Principal and Spelling Bee Club Patron, Tinashe Marecha shared the school’s remarkable journey to becoming champions of the Masvingo Zone 1 Spelling Bee Competition and said determination had earned them the success.
“In 2024, we were at the Zimbabwe Spelling Bee Competition with a small team of four learners. Although we didn’t secure top-ten positions, the experience sparked our determination to improve. This year, our Spelling Bee Club worked diligently, often until 2100 hours and during weekends, to refine their skills.
“To ensure our participants were well-prepared, we conducted several rehearsals in front of our learners and staff members. We also utilized online resources, such as watching last year’s finals from Wise Owl High School on YouTube, to provide our learners with a realistic understanding of the competition. Each learner was provided with the official word list from the Spelling Bee organizers,” said Marecha.
Marecha said he was the proud of the achievements as a smaller school and thanked the stakeholders who contributed to the school’s success in the competitions.
“As a new school, with less than 300 learners and only three years of operation, we were not expected to pose a significant challenge to more established schools. However, our victory has sent a clear message that we are a force to be reckoned with.
“Our sincerest gratitude goes to our School Principal, Ushe Paradza for his unwavering support, as well as to our teachers, the entire Living Proof High family, and parents for their unrelenting encouragement. We eagerly anticipate representing Masvingo Zone 1 at the national level and making our mark on the Zimbabwe Spelling Bee Competition,” said Marecha.
Speaking to TellZim News, Zimbabwe Spelling Bee, National Coordinator, Enny Chomsora said the competition was highly competitive as learners and coaches prepared well for the tournament.
“The learners did an outstanding job, demonstrating exceptional preparation and dedication to the event. They thoroughly studied the wordlist, and it paid off, with most of them acing every word in each round.
“I extend my sincerest gratitude to the coaches for their tireless efforts in guiding the students to success and the top 10 junior and top 10 senior learners will represent the Masvingo region in the national finals this September. We wish them all the best,” said Chomsora.
Chomsora said they had challenges however with people who had disputes with the judgement.
“The problems we got during the competitions were those of people who had disputes with the judges’ judgment so there is a dispute desk for those with disputes. The decision from there will be final,” she said.
From Juniors’ side, Matidaishe Kurauone and Delight Mbizanah from Tshovani Primary scooped the first and second position respectively and Chiredzi primary had five of its learners in the top ten.
National Zimbabwe Spelling Bee will have hundreds of learners participating and the winners will proceed to Africa Spelling Bee competitions with different countries with winners going to USA for the SCRIPPS USA spelling bee competitions.
Out of 17 participants from the host school, 7 leaners qualified for the national tournament namely Makomborero Chiredzi, Beverly Banda, Kudakwashe Muzofo, Tawananyasha Chizodza and Daisy Rugwinya with Dorcas Chitingwiza and Faith Makonese winning gold and silver medals respectively.
The tournament had 14 schools with a total of 192 participants and the following schools were in attendance primary schools being Chivhu Junior, Gutu United, Tshovani, Sandon Academy Junior, Chiredzi, Melbourne and St Antony Junior.
High schools included the host, Assisi, Rufaro, Hippo Valley Estate, Sandon Academy Senior, and St Antony Senior.
Zimbabwe Spelling Bee is an educational program where learners compete in spelling competitions.
