SKARDU, Oct 9: For the first time, Dawn in Education Spelling Bee Competition was held at Skardu on October 8 with a participation of over 35 schools and approximately 270 students from not only the Skardu city but also surrounding areas of Khaplu, Roundu, Jamba Skardu and Satpara.

An orientation session with the principals, teachers and teams of all the participating schools was carried out on October 7 at the Grace Public School.

The 35 schools battled it out for the coveted Skardu rounds champion titles in the age groups of 9-11, 12-14 and 15-17 at the Mashabrum Hotel.

The competition had an audience of over 400 people throughout its duration from 9am to late evening which included parents, teachers, siblings and class fellows of the participating teams.

The competition was also attended by Julia Fendrick, the US embassy cultural attaché, and Micah Risher, the embassy`s English officer.

The Skardu rounds champions for the 9-11 age group was the team from Pepperdine School Network and the participants were Syeda Mahnoor Raza, Filza Ayub Wazir and Wazir Ahmed Salman.

For the 12-14 age group, Bushra Ishaq, Lubna Baig and Huma Shahid from Public School and College, Sakrdu, made up the winning team.

The 15-17 age group champions were Samina Maryam, Khadija Rafiq and Maria Jaffar also from the Public School and College Skardu.

The winning teams will be flown to Islamabad to take part in the Islamabad regional rounds to be held at Islamabad Club Auditorium from October 13 to October 16.Correspondent