IF there is one thing that the RHB-New Straits Times Junior Spell-It-Right (SIR) Challenge has proven, it’s that a little parental support can go a long way.

Angeline receives her prizes from RHB Bank Central Region Deputy Regional Director Tengku Mohamad Rizam Tengku Abdul Aziz (left) and NST and New Sunday Times Brand Manager Leslie N. Jebaretnam

The winners of the Federal Territory and Kedah competitions attributed their victories to their parents and family.

For Kedah state champion S. Shivadharshan Naidu, his parents and elder siblings played a huge role in his participation in the challenge.

His parents, English lecturer R. Sivabala Naidu and homemaker S. Krishnaveni, were the ones who saw the advertisement in the NST for the spelling contest and who trained him prior to the event.

His elder siblings Rajeevanethra, 16, and Jannanee, 14, had also participated in the senior SIR a few months back.

“He has got a knack for spelling,” says Sivabala. “Even when it comes to words he has not encountered before, he has a sense of how they might be spelt.” Initially when they registered nineyear- old Shivadharshan, Sivabala and Krishnaveni were positive that he would emerge as the champion as they did not think there would be many contenders.

They got a shock when, on the day itself, 115 other pupils turned up to compete.

But, as Shivadharshan’s father puts it, his son’s victory was probably meant to be — he knew all the words given to him and had stumbled only once during the final round on the word “pecan”.

Luckily for him, Emelia Anne Steven, the second-placed winner, also faltered on a word in the final round which resulted in them going head-to-head in a tiebreaker round where he correctly spelt “shudder”.

“Everyone was good, it could have very easily been any of the other kids who could have won,” adds Sivabala.

“He was blessed.” Shivadharshan was coached by Krishnaveni who kept giving him words to spell, whether sitting at home or in the car while driving.

Federal Territory champion Angeline Christine Danny also had her parents to thank for her victory in the spelling challenge.

IT manager Walter Dikro Danny and geologist Morina Timah encouraged their eldest daughter to join the competition.

They saw it as an avenue for the avid nine-year-old reader of encyclopaedia and story books to test her skills.

Morina would test Angeline’s spelling while doing household chores such as the laundry.

Angeline got all seven words given to her in the preliminary and final rounds correct, easily securing the top spot.

“The words were a little difficult,” says the confident nine-year-old. “But I knew the ones I got.” Angeline correctly spelt “ultimate”, “luminary” and “reservation” in the final round.

The Junior SIR garnered huge interest from pupils aged seven to nine with more than 600 taking part throughout Malaysia.

NST Newspaper-in-Education manager Mary Chandapillai who was presenter and chief judge at Sabah and Federal Territory says the exercise has been an eye-opening experience.

“We didn’t really know the level of the contestants until we got through the first rounds,” she says, “but it is not indicative of the overall standard as there were many others from ‘good’ schools who did not participate.” There are differences in the levels of pupils who participated in the challenge from state to state but two things remained constant, she adds.

Firstly, if you challenge your child, he or she will rise to the challenge.

Secondly, good spellers are good readers.