The library at Oyama traditional school was abuzz last friday during lunchtime.
Just over a dozen students gathered together to take part in the annual CanSpell Spelling Bee.
Students of all ages competed by taking turns spelling out progressively more challenging words. The first time a student misspelled a word he or she was knocked out of the spelling bee.
It was a good opportunity for students to flex their brain power as they sounded out words so obscure that by the end of the competition, even some of the parents in the audience looked to one another with puzzled expressions on their faces.
Cassie McKenzie eventually prevailed and came out on top after a drawn out war of the words with Sydny Stoltz.
As she spelled out her final word and exhaled a deep sigh of relief, McKenzie’s friends rushed to her side to congratulate her on the win.
All through the spelling bee, the students were supportive of one another. Misspelled words were always accompanied by a round of applause from the other competitors in a gesture of good sportsmanship.