September 16, 2022
Taabinga State School student Ethan Keenan has won first prize for Years 5-6 in the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee.
Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington recently presented Ethan with a certificate and prize for his amazing efforts, which also saw him ranked fourth in Australia
“Ethan is a Grade 6 student and School Captain of Taabinga State School and his achievement in this competition is absolutely fantastic,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“I understand there were 26,000 children who took part from across Australia in the Year 5-6 level, so to come first in Queensland and fourth in Australia is so exciting for him and his family, as well as for the staff at Taabinga State School.
“Ethan explained some of the words he had to spell, including ‘astigmatism’, ‘rickety’ and ‘despondent’.
“He was able to complete 28 out of 30 words correctly in just 1.56 minutes.
“He is a very clever young man and I look forward to following his progress in the future.”
Congratulations Ethan on your wonderful achievement. I believe that correct spelling is still an integral part of the English language and it pleases me to know that there are children who are interested in this very important category. Good grammar is just as important. Well done!
Congratulations Ethan. I totally agree with the remarks made by Julie Berry. I cringe at the slang words, mispronunciation and grammatical errors frequently used by journalists in television reporting.
Sadly, even the national newspapers contain many spelling and grammatical errors every day.
My best wishes to you for the future, Ethan. I am sure you will continue to maintain your high standards.